The Color of Strength, Power, and Determination
by Head Master Canon
Summary: Red just turned 11 and is going to depart on his journey. He is determined to become a pokémon master and see everything the world has to offer. After training on Mt. Silver, Red decides to continue his quest. Follow Red's journey through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova where many battles, pokémon, and maybe some romance will take place.
1. Bittersweet

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**A/N**

**This fanfic is going to loosely follow the game canon from FRLG, HGSS, RSE, DPP, and B2W2.**

**As such, I compiled a list of made-up world rules that are helpful to know:**

***Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova are the only existing regions.**

***When a trainer challenges a gym, the number of badges he/she has determines what team the gym leader uses.**

***The moment you obtain your trainer card, you are a legal adult.**

***Mega Evolution exists but is currently unknown.**

***In the games, Kanto & Hoenn take place at the same time as well as Johto & Sinnoh.**

***Fairy type doesn't exist.**

***Moves and stats are going to coincide with B2W2.**

***TMs will be infinite use.**

***Physical/Special split exists.**

* * *

**Prologue: Bittersweet**

"Come on Red!" Red's mother yelled out to him from their front door, "Dinner's almost ready." At the mention of his name, Red nodded silently to Green and made the 20-second run to his house.

Green was Red's friend and neighbor. They could be found "playing" together most afternoons after their daily lessons from Professor Oak. Green watched Red jog lightly to his house. Bittersweet was the word that came to mind. Today was the last day before they were to start their journey which also meant it was the last day they'd play together like this. Once Red had disappeared behind the red door to his house, Green turned around and entered her own house.

Green's mother heard the back door open and close. "Perfect timing honey! The potatoes just finished cooking." In the next few minutes, the simple wooden table that sat in the middle of their house was covered in steamy mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a thick juicy steak.

"So," Green's mother began as she cut into her steak, "how was your date with Red?"

Green almost choked on the piece of broccoli she was chewing. How many times had she expressed to her mother that she was, in fact, not dating Red? Green only glared at her mother in return. A series of giggles came from her mother.

"Relax dear. I'm only kidding. Were you studying the type chart again?" Green nodded. They had only recently been introduced to the type chart. About a week before their final exam, Oak had given each of his current three students the printout of the chart. Green's eyes visibly lit up with excitement. She loved battles and all of its little details and nuances. This was the first time she had been aware of the idea of types being important for anything besides STAB (same type attack bonus). It did look intimidatingly large though. Her excitement to learn it with— "You finished with your plate?" Green was jolted from her thoughts. She had been shoveling food into her mouth while she reminisced and now her plate was empty.

"…Yes…" Green replied and left the table before her mother could bombard her with more nosy questions. Her mother sighed in worry for her daughter. Green rarely spoke. The only exceptions were when it was all but necessary and when she was extremely sad or angry. The first option was clearly not the case, so it was obvious that Green was thinking about her journey and inability to see Red starting tomorrow. After finishing her dinner, Green's mother got cozy on their couch with a new book she bought recently. Green would be fine by morning.

* * *

Red ate his dinner as though he was a vacuum cleaner. The food on his plate was gone in 30 seconds. Before his mother could tease him, he was already locked away in his room making sure he was all packed and ready for tomorrow.

His backpack was yellow with a pokéball design in black. It contained a central compartment with two smaller pouches on each side; one of which was for pokéballs. Backpacks were deceptively capable. They could hold an incredibly large amount of items despite looking relatively small. Red double—no triple—checked to make sure his potion was there. He spent a good amount of his savings on that potion and he'd be damned if he left it behind.

Unfortunately, that was the only possession he owned that could be brought with him besides some of the essentials like clothes. His wallet was filled to the brim with the ₽3000 his mother gave him to start his adventure, or it would've been if he carried cash. Fortunately, debit cards were a luxury he could take advantage of being born in the rise of technology. There was also a vacant spot for his trainer card to be slotted into. He wouldn't get that until tomorrow though.

He tried to fall asleep, but his brain kept thinking of new things to get excited for. Battling, trading, training, journeying, gyms, and eventually the league. It was all just so damn exciting. Somehow, he drifted off with a copy of his Trainer Tips book on his face.

* * *

Green looked out her window. The moon looked back at her from its spot in the sky. Don't laugh at me, Green thought as she gave the moon her best glare, it's not my fault I can't sleep. She flipped over in her bed so that her back was facing the window. Oak's lab was right in view, and it certainly didn't help calm her excitement. Then there was Red… A blush adorned her cheeks and she rolled further over to hide her face in her pillow. She needed to abolish these fantasies of hers or she'd never live up the promise she made with Red. The promise to be strong enough to challenge him after he became a master.


	2. The Three Colors

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**A/N**

**My plan is to try and release a chapter once a week.**

**The prologue doesn't count as a chapter in my eyes which is why Chapter 1 is being posted so quickly.**

**Q/A will be at the bottom.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Three Colors**

Red was awake and standing outside the professor's lab at 6:00 am sharp. He had never been more excited in his life. His mother, unexpectedly, put up little fuss this morning. Oak was nowhere to be found; the old man probably still sleeping despite saying to arrive at this time.

Red was unfazed by Oak's tardiness and chose to gaze around his small town.

The town itself was very small. Red could easily run from one end to the other in about 2 or 3 minutes. If one looked at the town from above with north facing up, Red's house was in the top left, Blue's house was in the top right directly right of his house, and Green's house was in the bottom left right below his own house.

Blue's full name was Blue Oak. He was the grandson of Professor Oak or Oak for short. He and Red never got along very well. Blue had a sort of superiority complex always claiming that he'd be the champion of Kanto. Red didn't care much for the politics and paperwork that came with being the champion. Blue might be a bit of a jerk, but Red didn't hate the guy or anything. When it came down to it, Blue was still passionate about pokémon and, from what Red could tell, had considerable talent in battling.

The last place of note in Pallet Town was the famous Oak Lab. It was where Oak conducted his research on pokémon and taught new up and coming trainers the basics.

Most youngsters would go to a trainer school in their hometown and graduate to become a trainer when they turned 10. Oak provided the starter pokémon for each school in Kanto and was no doubt up late last night transporting those starters to each pokémon center. Pallet Town was too small to warrant a school, but Oak volunteered to teach for the children that grew up here as there was no safe route between Pallet Town and any other city. Lavender Town, on the other hand, had a route to its west to Saffron City with a path devoid of grass allowing Lavender Town residents to learn at Saffron City's school. This also meant that they had to wait a whole extra year to graduate because Oak decided it would be beneficial for them to learn some stuff that was not in the standard curriculum.

To the south was Route 21, a large stretch of ocean, which held Cinnabar Island and to the north was Route 1 which led to Viridian City. As a new trainer who couldn't safely use Surf, red would have to go north.

"Come on Gramps! We are already late!" Blue yelled as he came to a screeching halt next Red. "Sup Red. Still wearing the same clothes as ever I see." Red shrugged and smirked a little under his cap. Of course, he was wearing his signature clothes. These clothes were the last memory of his father that he had. Red and black sneakers, blue jeans, a black short-sleeve shirt with a red jacket which had a white stripe up the middle, and finally a baseball cap. The cap was also red with a white bill and half-pokéball design leading into it.

Blue was a tad bit more stylish. He wore a pair of black sneakers, some purple jeans, and a black short-sleeved shirt. He didn't rely on a cap nor a backpack. He had a simple small silver pack strapped around his waist. Definitely more stylish than Red.

Blue looked him up and down one more time and snorted, "Whatever. I guess it wouldn't be you if you wore anything different." Red was about to express something when Blue said, "Where's Green? I wanted to ask her something…" he drifted off and looked away from Red. Red could only shrug again. He was beginning to wonder himself.

Oak caught up and greeted Red. He then proceeded to unlock the lab and usher them in. Red wanted to wait for Green, but Oak was talking which meant Red was about to lose hours of his life. The old man had a habit of speaking for hours at a time.

Oak led them to the table with the starters on it and said, "I know that look Red. Don't worry, I will save my stories for a more appropriate time." Oak then gestured to the table, "On this table here are the 3 starter pokémon. I'd like you to choose first Red."

"Hey, Gramps! No fair! I bet Red will pick mine before I get the chance," Blue said.

"Be patient, you can go after Red since it seems like Green isn't going to—"

The doors flew open as Green ran into the building at top speed. The three colors were all together. Oak had called the three students before him the three colors for as long as he could remember.

"I'm glad you could make it," Oak smirked and said, "Red is choosing first. You can go after him and Blue will go last." Red expected to hear Blue's opinion on that, but Blue was oddly silent. It turned out that he was looking at Green.

Green was dressed similarly to Red with the difference being in what color was the primary one. Her shoes were white with a red stripe across the center. She wore a red short skirt followed by a black undershirt with a blue top on it. Her hat was more of a sunhat with a thin brim with the same style of art as Red's cap. The colors, however, were flipped with white being the main color. She carried a similarly colored bag to Red's backpack. Instead of an actual backpack, it was more of a purse with a long strap that went over her neck.

Green nodded at the professor while trying to catch her breath.

"Green. Will you journey together with me?" Blue asked. When becoming a trainer, a boy asking a girl to journey with him was the same as a settled adult man asking a settled adult woman on a date. Oak looked away wanting to miss seeing what was about to happen. Red was shocked. When had Blue developed feelings for her?

Green, with a light smile, said "…No…" Oak turned back to look at Green in surprise. He only heard her speak once in his life. Red was lost in what was going on. Blue… Blue was trying to play it off like it was nothing clearly not expecting to be rejected.

Red took the initiative to get things moving in a more exciting direction. He went to grab the leftmost pokéball. The room around him fell silent. This was the first time Red had ever held a pokéball with an actual pokémon inside. He pushed the button to enlarge it then casually tossed it in front of him. A flash of light turned into a Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur cried out in greeting. Red, if he was telling the truth, would gratefully take any pokémon in the world because he loved them all, but he figured he should survey his options.

Giving the cute pokémon a stroke on the head, Red took the middle pokéball. This time, a Squirtle appeared. The turtle playfully showed off by flexing its muscles. Red took the chance to feel Squirtle's shell. It was hard, and Red wasn't sure what it was made of.

At last, Red released the rightmost pokémon. Oak spit out his morning coffee as the light revealed a Pikachu. The adorable yellow mouse squeaked a greeting and jumped on Red's shoulder nuzzling into his neck. Red smiled and affectionately pet the creature.

It was unusual for a Pikachu to be a starter. Occasionally, there weren't enough traditional starters ready in time and Eevee were used in place, but this was the first time he'd heard of a Pikachu being used as a replacement.

Red didn't have to think very hard. He pointed to the Pikachu and gave a thumbs up to Oak. As for Oak, he was trying to figure out why the hell a Pikachu was there. He could've sworn he'd had a Charmander.

"I'm sorry Red. I swear I have a Charmander if you'd like that," Oak pointed to the range where pokémon roamed around and he studied them in turn.

Red shook his head and pointed to the Pikachu again, "…This one…"

Oak sighed. Was he even allowed to give him a Pikachu as a starter? Giovanni would surely be the first gym leader he faced in which case Red stood no chance with an electric type like Pikachu. Even if he skipped Giovanni and went for Brock…

"To hell with the rules..." Oak mumbled before laughing, "Alright Red. Take good care of Pikachu." Red would surely have a hard time, but Oak believed Red was up for the challenge.

A Pikachu, huh? Green looked at the new pair with amazement. Leave it to Red to choose a pokémon like that. She had to admit the Pikachu was extremely cute.

She walked up to the table where the two remaining balls were placed back in their spots. Both pokémon were still out on the floor waiting patiently to be selected.

She had spent countless hours last night, in her insomnia, making this choice in her head over and over again. She was sure she could spend countless more if she let herself, so she instead took Bulbasaur's ball without a second thought. Bulbasaur growled happily and ran to its new trainer. Green picked Bulbasaur up and hugged him or her. She'd have to check which gender Bulbasaur was later.

Oak was about to give his standard congratulations to Green, but Blue took the remaining pokéball and exclaimed, "Yes! I can't believe I got the best one!"

"Alright, congratulations everyone on your new lifelong partners. Treat them well, and they will treat you well too. Come over here so we can take pictures for your trainer cards," Oak said.

After pictures, he gave them their badge cases and subsequently their trainer cards after they finished printing. Red looked at his card. It was the standard normal blue color that every new trainer was given. His name was printed neatly on the top left with other various information printed below that like his height and such. His trainer class was simply Trainer. On the right side was his picture and above that his ID number. He put it in his wallet and felt great pride to officially be a trainer.

Trainer classes weren't all too special for new trainers. Once you chose a profession, your trainer class is updated to match it. Oak, for example, had a trainer class of Professor, and it was respectful to address him with his trainer class. Gym leaders also have their own class and so on. Champion was the highest class a trainer can receive and was usually the most sought after profession as well as the hardest to obtain.

In Red's opinion, there should be a class above that called Master. He wasn't really sure how to go about defining what a Master was, but he was going to make it become a thing. That was his dream.

Excited to get going, Red turned on his heel and started to walk out. Blue, although rejected by his long-time crush, wasn't one to give up. He saw Red leaving and had a brilliant idea.

"Wait! Battle me Red. Let's see who's better," Blue sent out his Squirtle as he said this. Red wasn't especially interested in battling Blue, but he did want to battle.

Pikachu, who was still on his shoulder, hopped down and gave a battle cry that sounded like, "Pi Pika Pi!" to all the humans. Squirtle, instead, heard, "I won't disappoint you Red!" to which he responded,

"I won't disappoint Blue either!" Blue's plan was simple. He'd show Green he was stronger than Red by winning this battle. He was aware that he had the type disadvantage, but he also knew that starters didn't have a STAB move until some training was done. He was confident he could win.

Oak shouted, "Red. Pikachu knows Growl, Thunder Shock, and Tail Whip." Blue immediately regretted his life choices.

"…Thunder Shock…" Red said. His voice was unusually loud and authoritative compared to his quiet speaking voice that was rarely used. Pikachu gathered electricity in his cheeks and sent it at the poor Squirtle who took it full force.

"Squirtle, no!" Blue was in full panic mode. Thunder Shock was not in the plan. "Use Tail Whip followed by Tackle."

"…Dodge…" Pikachu leaped to the side to avoid the combo attack.

"Tail Whip where Pikachu is going to land!" Squirtle recovered well from his miss and whipped his tail at where he figured Pikachu would land. Squirtle succeeded and Pikachu glowed blue for a second.

With Pikachu's defense lowered, Red didn't want to risk getting tackled, "…Growl…" Pikachu growled at Squirtle who shuddered at the sound and glowed red for a second.

"Lowering my attack. Nice move Red. Use Tackle." Squirtle began to charge at Pikachu again.

"…Jump and Thunder Shock…" Squirtle went right under Pikachu as he leaped into the air.

"Dodge it!" Squirtle threw his weight to the left to avoid the electricity that shot where he was. The beam missed him, but he lost his balance and flipped onto his shell. Not good.

"…Thunder Shock…" Pikachu landed on the ground and shot another electric beam at the now helpless Squirtle. The beam struck Squirtle and quickly fainted him.

Blue recalled Squirtle, "Hmmph. You got lucky this time. I'll train to toughen up. Smell ya later." With that, Blue left. Green was clapping for Red, having watched the whole battle, and Oak felt conflicted. Should he be sad that his grandson went and challenged the boy with a Squirtle of all pokémon or should he be happy that one of his most talented students won his first battle.

"Good job Red. I'll have to scold Blue later for not paying you anything. Have a safe journey you two!" Oak dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

Green turned and was going to ask Red to— Red had disappeared. She sighed and left to start her journey.

* * *

Red was living his best life. He was already on Route 1 and fainting Pidgey left and right. He had already decided sometime during his childhood to keep his partner out of his ball which meant he didn't have to waste time releasing and returning Pikachu. Some guy was promoting the Pokémart in Viridian City and gave Red a potion for free. To Red's disappointment, there were no trainers.

He entered Viridian City and took note of the theme playing from the speakers posted on all of the street lights. It was decidedly better than Pallet Town's theme, but he supposed that any theme would be better than Pallet Town's after hearing it for 11 years straight.

The first thing he did was walk into the Pokémart. He walked up to the counter and pointed at the pokéball image on the menu.

"Sorry, we ran out and won't get more till later," the sales clerk then asked, "Could I see your trainer card?" Red flashed him his card and the sales clerk's eyes lit up, "You're from Pallet Town! Could I get you to deliver this package for Professor Oak?" A package was shoved into Red's hands.

Deciding it was worth running the errand, Red battled his way back to Pallet Town and went to Oak's lab. He looked around and saw no sign of the old man. One of Oak's assistants saw Red's confusion, "He went back to his house to get some stuff or something."

Red knocked on the door to Oak's house and Daisy answered. Daisy was Blue's older sister and the champion of the Spring Pokémon Contest. Pikachu immediately jumped off of Red's shoulder and nuzzled against Daisy. She giggled and picked Pikachu up before hugging him softly and gently.

"What a cute pokémon. Did you get it from my grandfather?" Daisy asked.

Red pulled down his cap to cover his eyes and nodded.

"I don't know how you convinced him to do that, but it's nice nonetheless. Are you here to see him?"

Red nodded.

"He's upstairs. Come on in."

Red made a beeline for the staircase. If he was being honest, Daisy was really pretty. As a contest champion, she sure knew how to look good. Not to mention, Daisy was incredibly good with pokémon. Supposedly she calmed a raging Tauros with just her presence alone. He might've had a crush on her.

Unluckily, Oak was on his way down the stairs and bumped into Red.

"Red. Why are you here?" the old man asked. Red got the package out from his backpack and handed it to Oak, "What's this?" Oak took it and began to unpackage it before getting excited, "Red! Perfect timing. I want you to have this," Red was given a weird red gadget, "I just came up with this and this is the first of its kind. I call it a Pokédex. It scans pokémon inside their pokéballs and records information about them. Anything you could want to know will be recorded. Unfortunately, you must capture the pokémon for complete information because it only works by scanning pokéballs. Just seeing a pokémon will get you its name and that's it."

"Daisy, I need a town map!" Blue came in and stopped in front of his sister. She looked up from the table and handed him one.

"Be careful with it. It's only paper." She tried to scold him, but Blue had noticed Red.

"Why are you here? Bullying my poor sister into giving you a town map?"

"He doesn't have a Town Map? Here Red," she walked over and handed him one, "You can have one too Green." Green was peeking in the door. She was on her way out of town after stopping for some breakfast at her house but heard a commotion from Blue's house. Curiosity got the best of her and now she's getting some map shoved at her.

"Blue, Green, I want both of you to have this too." Oak proceeded to give both the other new trainers a Pokédex. He gave the rundown on what it was again then explained how it was his dream to record information on every pokémon out there. "I'm afraid I'm too old to go adventuring these days, but you three can help me achieve my dream. Here are 5 pokéballs each to get started. Now go and make me and your respective parents proud."

The three new trainers each left the house and began their journey… For real this time.

* * *

Oak convinced Daisy to go massage some of the ranch pokémon after the fiasco with the three colors and went back upstairs.

"The coast is clear. Sorry, I had to cut it short," Oak said.

"No worries. There's plenty of time now that the younger ones are gone," Red's mother gave Oak a chaste kiss before hurrying home.

On the way back to his lab, Oak looked back towards Route 1 and thought about the three colors. They were all certainly skilled, but each had their own strengths. His grandson Blue was fearless and headstrong. Oak was certain that Blue would make it to the league first. Green was kind and adventurous. Oak was certain that Green would make it to the league last. Red was… Oak paused for a second then continued walking. Red was the most talented student he'd ever seen. Red's observational skills were second to none, and the boy had drive and patience. It was a fearsome combination to have in a trainer. Red was the color of strength, power, and determination after all. Oak was certain that Red would be the champion one day.

* * *

**Q/A**

**the willyrex: I'm planning on including the other protagonists in some way. They'll most likely be minor appearances.**


	3. First Steps Are Often the Hardest

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters**

* * *

**Chapter 2: First Steps Are Often the Hardest**

"…Distract…" Red's Pikachu gave a squeak of acknowledgment to its trainer and darted in circles around the poor Pidgey.

"Pidgey! Pid! Gey! Gey!" Pidgey was beginning to get dizzy trying to follow the quick movements of the electric rodent it was battling.

Red silently tossed his first pokéball at the bird. Being a typical and weak pokémon found on Route 1, Pidgey was captured despite being at full health.

"Pika Pi!" The little electric rodent jumped around in victorious glee. Red gave his partner a head pat and picked up the first pokémon he ever caught.

Remembering the Pokédex, Red brought out the clunky contraption and let it scan the pokéball.

"Pidgey. The tiny bird Pokémon. It is docile and—" Red finally found the mute button. Despite the obvious design flaw in giving it the ability to make noise, Red was impressed with the machine. It told him what type Pidgey was, what possible abilities it had as well as which one it actually had, and its current move set. It even had a nice bar graph that gave him an idea of what its stats were.

It seemed that Pidgey was fast and on the bulkier side. Keen Eye… If Red remembered correctly, that prevented a pokémon from having its accuracy lowered. Pikachu interrupted his train of thought by tugging on his jeans.

What did Pikachu want?

Pikachu tried his best to communicate that he was, in fact, bored and wanted to get going.

Red nodded in understanding and suddenly returned Pikachu. He was grateful that Pikachu just reminded him to get the Pokédex information on it.

When the Pokédex displayed the picture, Red nearly gasped aloud. Pidgey's picture looked relatively normal with the bird just standing there. Pikachu's picture… It was like Pikachu was surprised with his mouth open in shock. Weird.

Red decided to move on from it. According to the Pokédex, Pikachu had Static as its ability. It was a speedy little thing with otherwise average stats.

Red released Pikachu. The yellow mouse glared at Red and released some electricity from its cheeks threateningly. Confused, Red pointed at an unlucky Rattata that stumbled out onto the path. Pikachu decided to drop the issue and turned to face its next victim.

"…Thunder Shock…" Unlike with the Pidgey, who was weak to electric type attacks, Rattata would fare alright. He had to be careful not to kill the pokémon before capturing it.

When a pokémon is captured, its body is coated in an invisible residue to prevent it from dying in battles. The pokéball does this automatically once capturing is complete. This is why trainers can capture, train, and battle pokémon for sport. A wild pokémon had no such protection and, instead of fainting, would die.

Luckily, Pikachu's attack didn't kill the small rat. Red, once again, tossed a pokéball; catching it on the first try. It didn't seem like there was any more new pokémon on this route, so Red entered Viridian City once again.

The view of the city, currently, was incredibly beautiful. The sun was setting behind Viridian Forest; bathing the city in an orange glow. Red, ever the insomniac, explored around the city a bit before heading to the Pokémon Center. He found a potion hidden behind a small tree for his troubles.

The Pokémon Center was filled to the brim with new trainers much to Red's displeasure. He had wanted to get his party healed and then snag a room, but it seemed like that might be more of a hassle than he originally thought. Red pulled down the bill of his cap and waded through the crowd to the front counter.

"Welcome to our Pokémon Center! Would you like me to heal your Pokémon back to perfect health?" The nurse greeted Red with an enthusiasm that he suspected had to be forced. He silently handed her his two freshly caught pokémon and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder onto the counter.

"OK, I'll take your Pokémon for a few seconds." Literally a few seconds later, "Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again!"

What did she mean "we?" There was no one around except for her. A few minutes later, Red had secured a room and was lumbering towards it. He lazily opened the door and walked into the dark room.

After gently closing and locking the door, Red threw himself onto the soft bed… and immediately jumped back up.

"Wh-who's there?" Someone was in the bed. Red sprinted towards the door to turn on the lights. He could've sworn he had the right room. Red smacked the light switch up and whirled around to find Blue frantically searching for his pokéballs.

"…You…" Red mumbled in confusion. He quickly checked the room number on both his key and the door. He definitely had the right room.

"Arceus Red! Don't scare me like that. Why the hell are you even in here?" Blue put down his pokéball. Red pointed an accusatory finger at Blue and glared. "What do you mean I'm in the wrong? This is my room! Look!" Blue jiggled his room key in front of Red.

Neither of them knew why, but they had been given the same room. Red was beyond caring and just wanted some sleep. The two of them agreed to share the bed and dozed off.

* * *

The nurse hurried to her room after locking the front door. It was finally closing time and she couldn't be any more excited. She looked through the peephole into the adjacent room. She was fully ready to indulge in… loud snoring could be heard from behind the wall. How could those two boys make so much noise and was that…

"Pika pika pika… Pika pika pika…." The nurse sighed. Even the Pikachu was snoring. She put on a nightgown and slipped under the covers. She was hoping for a repeat of Giovanni and…

She let the inevitable need for sleep plunge her into her dreamscape.

* * *

Green couldn't believe how cute this pokémon was. She was on Route 2, just north of Viridian City, and some pokémon that was green with a red antenna had crawled over to her. The cute little bug had the most adorable cry as it nuzzled against her. She brought out a pokéball and tapped the creature with it. After three shakes, it fell still against the tall grass. It was relatively early in the day, so she was training her current team. She had a Bulbasaur, Rattata, Pidgey, and now she had a Caterpie.

"…Vine Whip…" Her Bulbasaur sent out its two long green vines from the bulb on its back. Each vine struck the unsuspecting Rattata with a force that broke the creatures back immediately. The, now dead, rat bled out slowly on the ground. It amazed her how weak the pokémon around here were.

She returned her Bulbasaur and sent out Caterpie. If anyone were around to look at her, they'd see a young girl silently freaking out in a girlish manner hugging her new pokémon. The Caterpie was thoroughly confused but not complaining. In its experience, human females were notorious for hating his kind. It had tried to appear non-threatening, and it evidently worked.

After a few hours of training, Green's Caterpie began to glow. She watched in silent awe as the pokémon she was raising changed into a different pokémon altogether. She had learned about evolution, but this was her first time witnessing it in person. Except…

"…Ugly…" She glared at the absolutely hideous creature in front of her. How dare it insult her by being in her presence. According to her Pokédex, this Metapod could evolve again. This meant she'd have to put up with it. A sigh escaped her mouth.

* * *

When Red woke up, Blue was nowhere to be found. Pikachu awoke when Red got out of bed. After Red finished getting ready, the duo raced out to catch new pokémon, talk to more people for free stuff, and hopefully challenge the gym.

"Hold it right there," the nurse grabbed Red's arm as he was about to leave, "You have to pay for your room."

* * *

"Mommy… Why is that boy—" the young girl was picked up and quickly carried away from the scene. The girl and her mother were on their way back from delivering a much-needed lunch to the girl's father who worked the Pokémon League Reception Gate.

Red was destroying the wildlife on Route 22 which lay between the gate and Viridian City. His glare, which could already intimidate a Tyranitar, could cause the powerful Mewtwo to sweat. A copious amount of Rattata, Mankey, and Spearow lay dead around him.

He had already caught the two new pokémon on this route and was blowing off steam by training. That son of a Bidoof, Blue, had left Red to cover the entire charge for the room. Red would not be making that mistake again.

After spending the rest of his pokédollars on pokéballs, Red had charged off to Route 22 and was now feeling better after training. He knew that the gate wouldn't let him through without eight badges, but Red figured he could look for items. People always dropped stuff.

He only took a few steps before a voice tickled the back of his neck.

"Good Arceus. What happened over here?" That Onyx loving…

Red spun around and stared down Blue. The flamboyant trainer noticed that Red looked ready to kill him.

"Anyways," Blue looked to change the subject quickly, "how about we battle? I snagged a new pokémon and trained a bit. I'm sure I can win this time." Red motioned for Pikachu to show this fool a thing or two.

Blue stared, unnerved, at the Pikachu. For some reason, he wasn't feeling so confident anymore. Shaking his head to get back in the game, Blue sent out a Pidgey.

"Let's go! Pidgey use Sand Attack!" Using its strong wings, Pidgey created a gust of wind that brought a cloud of sand into the air. Red had to think quickly. Lower accuracy could prove fatal. Although he'd killed enough Pidgey to be considered an expert in the past hour alone, Red knew this one was guaranteed to be stronger and harder to fell.

"…Thunder Shock…" Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he released a shock of electric power.

"Dodge with Quick Attack and use Tackle." With a considerable burst of speed, the pudgy bird sidestepped Pikachu's attack and rushed forward.

"…Thunder Wave…" Pikachu made no move to dodge and instead release a wave of sparks across the ground. Pidgey was unprepared to dodge and ran straight into it. When Pidgey tried to keep moving, it instead froze. The muscles in its body refused to work.

"Paralysis… I'll admit you surprised me Red, but don't think this is over." Blue returned his Pidgey and sent out his Squirtle.

"…Quick Thunder…"

"What is th— dodge it Squirtle!" A Thunder Shock was flying towards Squirtle who dodged to the right only to be hit dead-on by Pikachu's Quick Attack. The impact sent Squirtle flying back a few feet, but the tiny turtle managed to get its footing. "Clever as an Alakazam are you? Try this! Bubble!" An onslaught of bubbles jettisoned from Squirtle's mouth. Pikachu was caught off-guard and was forced to take the hit. The bubbles popped against his fur causing some minor damage.

Red didn't think much of it until he noticed that Pikachu's balance was off. It seemed that the bubbles slicked Pikachu's hands and feet which would mean Pikachu would have to move with more caution to not lose balance effectively lowering his speed.

Red grit his teeth. He was not going to lose. Especially not after this morning. He hadn't decided to officially add anything he had captured to his team, so Pikachu was his only pokémon usable in this battle.

Judging by the number of balls on Blue's belt, Blue only had these two pokémon to battle with. Red decided to take a risk.

"…Quick Attack…"

"Hah! Squirtle use Tackle!" Squirtle was moving faster than Pikachu because of the speed drop.

"…Hit Tail…" Trusting in Red, Pikachu let Squirtle hit his tail. The attack had its effect on Pikachu causing the yellow mouse to grimace. Squirtle didn't come out unscathed. It skidded across the ground unable to move.

"Paralysis again?! How in the…" Blue suddenly frowned, "static." Red's gamble had paid off. He had noticed that Pikachu rubbed its tail against its back as it ran, so he deduced that it must gather static electricity there more frequently.

"…Thunder Shock…" Squirtle stood no chance and fainted.

"You did great," Blue praised his starter as he returned it, "I still have him!" Pidgey was back and still as paralyzed as before. "Push through it and use Tackle!"

"…Growl…" The Pidgey succeeded in breaking through its status condition but was moving slower as it had to work more to actually move. Pikachu's growling took its effect too. It took little effort for Pikachu to move out of Pidgey's way.

"Try using Quick Attack!" Paralysis still didn't completely prevent the bird from moving, so it sprinted as fast as it was able to towards Pikachu.

"…Thunder Shock…" The move hit cleanly and left Pidgey very weak. It was visibly panting and only managed to graze Pikachu with its attack. A Quick Attack from Pikachu finished it off.

Blue begrudgingly paid Red the standard winning fee, but Red kept his hand out. He was still salty over earlier. After arguing for a few minutes, Blue gave Red his half of the room charge too then turned to leave.

"Oh, hi Green. Did you… see any of that?" Green was standing near the exit towards Viridian City. She looked at Blue,

"…Loser…"

"You saw all of it?! Just my luck… Listen it was just a fluke. I'll win next time for sure!" Blue ran off quickly; cheeks painted red with embarrassment.

Red and Green looked at each other and shared a moment of silent amusement at Blue's expense. Green had just woken u— finished training and came over to see what pokémon were on this route. The last thing she expected was to find Red and Blue in a battle. Then again, it'd be more surprising to see Red and Blue in one area and not in a battle.

Red tipped his cap to say goodbye and carried his worn-out partner with him back to the city. Green reminded herself why she even came this way and set to work. The Pokédex wasn't going to fill itself.

* * *

The nurse healed Red's pokémon, but he could've sworn her tone of voice implied that she was doing so unwillingly. She couldn't still be mad that he almost forgot to pay… could she? Women were complicated sometimes… scratch that. Women were complicated all the time. Except for Green. She was always dependable to make sense.

"Pika," a tug on his pant leg snapped Red out of his thoughts. He had walked on autopilot to the gym. Feeling pumped, Red made to enter the building in style. He put his arms out in front of him and pushed open the large glass double doors.

The doors didn't budge. Maybe he just did it wrong. He tried again. Nothing.

"Pull!" An old man returning home from the Pokémart called out to him. Red had never felt more stupid in his life. He found the small handles hidden by the gray circle aesthetic and entered the gym.

"Sorry kid the leaders out right now. Probably won't be back for a week." That was a huge waste of time. Red left feeling very demotivated. His future self would laugh at his current self for wanting to take on this particular gym first and with only a Pikachu.

It was a good thing that Viridian Forest had so many cool things to help Red forget about the whole gym incident. He had blown past Route 2 in a rush to get to the cool forest. This meant that every pokémon was new to him in here.

Caterpie and Weedle crawled about. Occasionally a Metapod or Kakuna would make an appearance. Red was not an uncultured man that caught 2 or 3 of the same pokémon to own each form in a pokémon's evolutionary line. He would find out much later that this was called a "living dex." He recognized a living dex as the waste of time and effort that it was.

After making his two new catches and battling a few overly excited bug catchers, he believed he saw the exit to Pewter City. On his way to the promising man-made building, a flash of yellow caught his eye.

A Pikachu, not his, was standing near the trees to the side of the path. His Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and began talking to the wild one. Red was confused until he noticed something that changed the entire scenario. Understanding filled Red's eyes, and he stood back observing his Pikachu shop the market.

The wild Pikachu put its hand to its mouth and giggled? Red wasn't sure what a giggle sounded like from any pokémon, but that seemed like a strong possibility for the sound that he just heard. The wild Pikachu then presented her tail to his Pikachu.

The extended tail differed from his Pikachu's tail in one way. It had a heart shape on the end instead of the boxy shape on the end of his Pikachu's tail. That meant this was a female Pikachu and his male Pikachu was flirting her up. A tear escaped his eye which he quickly wiped away. He'd gladly catch her to make his partner happy.

Red's Pikachu returned the gesture only to end up receiving a Thunder Shock. The female seemingly laughed at the male before darting off. Pikachu remained on the ground. Red sorrowfully walked up and scooped up his partner.

"…" Red didn't know what to say or if he should say anything at all.

He proceeded to Pewter City with his emotionally wounded partner in hand.


	4. A Rocky Start

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters**

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Rocky Start**

The early morning sunlight streamed into the Pokémon Center through the many, many windows. Why were there so many windows again? Green rolled to face away from the pair of large windows, unfortunately, facing east. She burrowed into the blankets afterward to hide from the violent rays of light. Looking at the bed, one might mistake her for a Silcoon or Cascoon with the white silken sheets jumbled up with the similarly colored covers.

"Saur!" Green's partner used its vines to rip the covers away allowing the Silcoon to evolve into a breathtaking Beautifly… or, in reality, the Cascoon to evolve into a Dustox. Green sat up straight. Her brown hair fell to frame her face in disheveled curls. Not many knew, but it was a gargantuan task to fix her bed head. Lack of sleep was apparent on her face as she turned to face Bulbasaur.

"…Trouble…" Green's voice, though tired, was laced with an annoyance that Bulbasaur could swear gave him the paralysis status as if Green was using the move Glare. Bulbasaur felt more scared than the time earlier when a Spearow landed a critical hit Peck on him. He had just gained the privilege to sleep outside his pokéball last night after learning Sleep Powder which made catching new pokémon a cinch. If Bulbasaur were a gambling pokémon, he'd bet that he just lost that privilege.

After properly disciplining her partner and getting ready, Green made her way to Route 2. Despite her annoyance, Green couldn't be truly mad at Bulbasaur especially since she had asked him to make sure she woke up at the crack of dawn.

Yesterday, she had gotten a late start trying to get through Viridian Forest. The sun had set before she finished catching the new pokémon in the forest and it only got darker as she went deeper into the maze of trees.

She'd never tell anyone, but she had gotten lost and didn't make it out into Pewter City until a few hours had passed. Hungry and exhausted, Green had made it to the Pokémon Center only to find it locked. Peeking through the window, the clock on the wall had said it was 3:00 am. Luckily for her, Red had gotten up to use the bathroom at that moment and let her in. Red even got her the key for the room next to his before going back to bed.

Now she was here, 3 hours later, on Route 2 training to challenge the gym later. She was aware of her propensity to fall behind the group, so she figured that, since Red was still here, getting her first badge today meant she was making good progress.

Inquiries among anyone who was awake in the city revealed that the gym leader used rock type pokémon. Her Bulbasaur was a grass type and should mop the floor with anything she'd encounter in the gym, but she wasn't about to get cocky and lose her first gym battle.

* * *

On the other side of town, Blue was waiting just outside the gym doors. He got up early as usual and did some last-second training for his new team member before heading to the gym just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

"A challenger already?" A tall sun-tanned man approached Blue. He was wearing a pair of gray cargo pants with a jacket akin to what those hikers liked to wear. Spiky hair topped his chiseled features. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Brock."

* * *

Red exited the Pokémon Center with a satisfying stretch. He slept like a Snorlax last night. Pikachu yawned on his shoulder. The yellow creature decided to swear off love after yesterday's incident. Life was simpler that way and Red could agree.

After running some errands, Red was headed towards Route 3. He wasn't about to skip out on the gym, but he figured the new pokémon to be found could give him some much-needed training. After passing the Pokémart, Red turned due east and headed forward.

"Hold it right there," some random boy cut off Red's path, "You're a new trainer, right?" Red was about to ignore him and keep moving, but the boy was persistent and grabbed Red's shoulders. "You should totally go to the gym and face Brock. He's tough. Let me show you the way!"

A couple of minutes later, Red was staring down the brown-roofed building. With a silent sigh, Red decided to just go ahead and enter the gym. His morning was off to a rocky start thanks to whoever that was, but if he was already here, he might as well try his hand.

The gym was quite a sight. The area was littered with rocks and had rough-looking terrain. Probably a rock type gym; if Red had to guess. The statues easily caught his attention. There were two of them right at the entrance that had a sort of plaque attached at the base. Closer inspection revealed that the plaque was actually just a panelboard that listed each challenger that defeated the gym that week.

The one on the left, which Red had been looking at, was blank. The one on the right was being altered by some guy. Red, in his curiosity, approached the man just as said main slotted in the last letter for… Blue.

The man noticed Red looking over his shoulder and said with enthusiasm, "Yo, champ in the making. You are here to challenge the gym right?" he turned back to the statue to straighten out the letters, "Well the gym leader here is Brock. He uses rock types, so I'd advise using…"

Red was already walking away towards the only trainer in the building that was clearly not the leader. Once Red entered the trainer's line of sight,

"Stop right there! You're still one thousand lightyears away from facing Brock," the trainer shouted and sent out a Geodude. Lightyears… Red looked up at who he assumed to be Brock. That distance was, at best, like a hundred feet. Did this trainer just have a habit of exaggerating like that or did he think that a lightyear was a unit of time…

Having only a Pikachu, Red expected to have a rougher time than he actually did. Geodude was slow enough that Pikachu had no problems dodging its attacks while landing its own. Sure the battle took a while, but it was easy. The trainer also owned a Sandshrew which was a pure ground type meaning Pikachu could make quick work of it with normal type attacks.

Deciding to play it safe, Red made a quick trip to the Pokémon Center. Pikachu gave his partner a nuzzle of appreciation for the break and conserved its energy on the way back. Red made his way through the gym and stopped in front of the tall spiky-haired man.

"I'm Brock. The Pewter City gym leader. Who might you be?"

"…Red…"

"Now that's interesting. Just this morning, a boy, whose name was also a color, came in here and punched right through our rock-hard defense. I won't underestimate you like I did him."

Red just gave Brock a smirk and pulled his cap down to cover his eyes.

"I like your determination! How many badges do you have?"

Red made a zero with his fingers.

"You heard the kid! Ref, zero badge battle."

Brock's referee nodded and opened the door to the gym arena. Red followed Brock in and was greeted to a large rocky field. There were a decent number of rocks jutting out of the ground which Red took note of. Brock took his place on the other side of the field, and Red stood in his spot.

"Will the challenger please scan his trainer card." The referee said this as a fancy-looking scanner rose out of the ground to Red's right. Red obliged the referee and saw his picture and hometown location pop up on the screen towards his side of the field. Under his name was 6 slots for what he presumed to be his team members. Brock had his own side of the screen.

"The gym battle between Red from Pallet Town and Brock the gym leader is about to begin. Since the challenger has zero badges, I will go over the gym battle standards," the referee paused briefly to take a huge swig of fresh water, "All gym leader teams are built based upon how many badges the challenger has. The challenger may use any amount of pokémon up to the standard maximum of six as with any battle. The use of items that are not held by pokémon are not allowed for the challenger but may be used by the leader. That is all. Now!" grand gestures were used to increase the hype, "Begin!"

"Go Geodude!" Brock's first pokémon appeared on the field and shouted its name.

Pikachu took the initiative and jumped out in front of Red.

Brock did a double-take. The other kid he fought earlier had used a Squirtle which swept his team. Brock knew his type chart and this guy had just sent out, quite literally, the worst possible type of pokémon. It was unheard of for a trainer to willingly send out a pokémon with such a massive type disadvantage. Ground moves hit electric types super effectively and were completely immune to electric type attacks.

Just what was this kid thinking?

"Use Defense Curl," Brock shouted, his voice carried exceptionally well giving the air of a seasoned veteran. Geodude's rocky skin turned gray and then glowed blue.

Brock figured the young boy across the field would be hopeless if he spammed Defense Curl. It was cheap, but he wasn't paid to be nice. He was paid to give a proper challenge. If Red wanted to try and flex on him, Brock was going to T-pose back.

"..." Red didn't give any orders and Pikachu seemed content to just stand there.

"If you won't make a move, we will certainly take advantage," Brock folded his arms and said, "Geodude! Defense Curl until you're maxed out."

Two audible gasps came from the audience.

The field area of the gym was surrounded by massive stands. It could easily house a few hundred people. Popular trainers amass a following and fans in the area will stop in to watch the battle.

Red was a nobody. In fact, everyone in that room would say Red was a foolish nobody.

The two gasps came from the two janitors on lunch break. They had decided to watch the battle since it was happening. What they didn't expect was to see Geodude last longer than ten seconds.

The monitor that displayed both trainers' information also had a timer for how long the battle was going. It crossed ten seconds after Brock finished his sentence. Brock's poor zero badge Geodude had never lasted longer than ten seconds until now.

Every zero badge challenger used a grass or water type because it was the smart thing to do. In fact, this was the first time that a different type of pokémon had ever been used in a zero badge battle at this gym.

Red remained stoic. His cap covered his eyes giving no information as to his thoughts.

"…Surf…"

Brock's jaw hit the floor. Was this kid smurfing him? There were instances of experienced trainers hiding evidence of their true badge total and completely wiping the floor with a leader's zero badge team. Besides that, could Pikachu even learn Surf?

Red smirked. Their confusion was exactly what he wanted.

Pikachu burst forward using Quick Attack. The yellow blur hit the Geodude at full speed and the rock with arms flew back past Brock. A loud impact resounded across the field as a cloud of dirt dispersed around the wall that Geodude hit.

When the dust cleared, Geodude had clearly fainted.

It took Brock a solid minute to stop staring dumbly at his Geodude and return the poor creature. Brock had seen a lot of things in his life. He grew up when Oak was a trainer which meant that there was some crazy stuff going on constantly. This took the cake and blinked it out of existence.

He considered forfeiting for a few seconds, but he had more of an ego than he realized. He steeled his resolve and sent out his final pokémon.

The majority of the field was cast under a shadow in the next instant. A trail of connected stones that gradually got larger as you looked further up let out a roar. The pokémon was known as an Onix. Onix measure at two inches below twenty-nine feet if you take the length of their body laid out flat. Needless to say, Pikachu was dwarfed in comparison to the mass of stone in front of him.

"Onix. Bind that rodent." Brock was going with his A+ game. If he got bested by a Pikachu, the other gym leaders would hold it over him forever. Assuming Red actually had zero badges.

The massive rock snake shot its tail towards Pikachu in an attempt to grapple it.

Pikachu allowed itself to be wrapped by Onix's tail. Brock didn't let himself second guess what was happening despite how odd it was.

"Follow up with Rock Tomb!" Pikachu flinched as Onix squeezed it before Onix used its body to unearth some rocks and throw them up in the air.

Red remained silent and expressionless. It was like he knew his victory was assured.

The rocks fell down on Pikachu dealing considerable damage and causing him to glow green.

The flash of green reminded Red of when he first learned about stat changes.

Oak had been lecturing him and his two classmates to death that day over the six basic stats as well as the two hidden stats. It went something like this: hit points, attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed plus accuracy and evasion. Every stat except hit points had a color associated with it. When a move or ability lowered or raised a pokémon's stat(s), the pokémon glowed the color associated with that stat. When different stats were involved at the same time, you'd see the colors go in succession. The glow starting from the bottom and going up indicated an increase and a glow starting from the top and going down indicated a decrease. The intensity of the color could even tell you how sharply the stat was changed. The color green was associated with speed which caused Red and Blue both to snicker because Green, the human, was not at all associated with speed.

Returning to the battle at hand, Pikachu's speed had just been lowered which surprised Red a little. The speed drop shouldn't matter if things went the way he intended. Normally, trainers would swap pokémon after negative stat changes because pokéballs reset any and all stat changes, including positive ones, and even cured confusion. Red, of course, only had Pikachu and couldn't do that.

"Keep using Rock Tomb," Brock commanded his Onix. The tail squeezed down again on Pikachu and some more rocks were hurled into the air. This time, however, the rocks missed Pikachu and fell harmlessly on the ground. Some moves were hard to aim and could miss like that, the hidden accuracy stat could help mitigate mistakes when aiming, but there were few moves that increased accuracy. Many moves decreased accuracy instead.

Not hearing a different order, Onix repeated the process. Squeeze and throw rocks. After squeezing, Onix began to toss up some rocks but found it hard to move. It roared in frustration and watched as Pikachu pulled itself out of the bind it was in.

"Paralysis…" Brock realized it immediately and bit his lip. It slipped his mind that Pikachu had static as an ability.

"…Head…" Red spoke. The referee and the two audience members almost forgot the challenger could speak and jumped in surprise. Brock's eyes widened in panic as he realized what Red was planning.

Pikachu began to run up the snake's body at a slightly slower speed than usual.

"Shake it off Onix!" Brock called out. His tone conveyed clearly how dire the situation was. Onix began to shake his body, but the paralysis greatly inhibited his speed. Pikachu had little difficulty scaling the rest of Onix's body and ended up on the rock monster's head.

"…Iron Tail…" Pikachu's tail glowed a steely gray and the rodent slammed his tail into the fin-like protrusion on Onix's head. Onix recoiled in pain but didn't faint.

"Roll over!" Brock really hoped this would get the yellow menace off his Onix.

"…Again…" Pikachu jumped as Onix began to roll to the side and let gravity pull it down towards the same spot it hit last time. A cracking sound resonated through the gym and Onix continued to fall towards the ground. When Onix hit the ground, it didn't move.

"Brock is out of usable pokémon. The winner is Red from Pallet Town." The referee said in almost disbelief. This was going to be one hell of a story to tell at the bar later.

Brock returned his Onix and walked across the field. Once reaching Red, he stopped and asked, "Was that really your first gym battle?"

Red nodded and showed the leader his empty badge case.

"You took out my Geodude with Iron Tail as well, right?"

Another nod.

"Where did you acquire such a move? The only tutor I know that teaches that move is in Unova."

Red was not into telling stories, but he did have honor. It wouldn't be fair to Brock if he withheld that information.

Red opened his backpack and took out a grayish disc. It was labeled as TM100.

"TM100… Where did you find this?" Brock had heard of TMs containing moves that were also taught by tutors, but he'd never seen one.

"…Family…"

"I see…" Brock ran a hand through his hair and released his breath into a light chuckle, "Well Red, that was the craziest battling I've ever seen in my life. Targeting my Onix's weak spot for critical hits was a smart play. You got a bit lucky with static though."

Red smirked and shrugged. He couldn't deny it.

"Here's the boulder badge. It allows you to use Flash outside of battle. Also, take this," Brock handed Red a disc, "This is TM39. It contains the move Rock Tomb. As you are no doubt aware, in the most recent TM/HM revision, TMs were changed to work like HMs. This means you can use them as many times as necessary."

Red nodded. Brock stuck out his hand and smiled,

"Red. It was a pleasure meeting and battling you. You should come and find me when you are stronger. I'd love to have a battle with you as two trainers instead of gym leader and challenger."

Red nodded one last time and took his leave. Pikachu had already settled in his spot on Red's shoulder. Brock watched as Red walked silently out of his gym and let himself fall back onto the ground.

"What a day…" Brock almost fell asleep after lying on the ground for a while. He was reflecting on the battle and replaying it in his mind over and over again. His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and the referee told Brock to get ready.

After his only underling got annihilated, the girl strolled up to him.

"Well, well, well. My name is Brock, and I am a master of rock type pokémon. What is your name?"

"…Green…"

* * *

As he was heading back to the Pokémon Center, Red twisted TM100 in his hands.

When he woke up earlier and stopped into the Pokémart, he had remembered that his family was in possession of a TM that he believed to be a steel type move. If Pikachu could learn it, it'd help type coverage immensely. It had taken him an hour to run all the way back to Pallet Town. His mother had nearly fainted when Red came barging in, saying TM a couple of times excitedly. TM100 was one of the few things his father had left behind, so it usually collected dust in storage. It took another hour to get back to Pewter City which was why he had such a late start to his day.

Red nearly bumped into someone exiting the Pokémon Center. He pocketed TM100 before entering. If he didn't remember this TM, he might've lost today's battle which made Red uncomfortable. He needed to get a second pokémon that could cover Pikachu's weaknesses.

Red healed his Pikachu before going towards Route 3 again. He expected to find that one guy who got in his way last time, but instead, a nerdy-looking scientist was there.

"Ah, Red!" the scientist walked up to the young boy, "I'm one of Oak's aides. Your mother asked me to deliver a package to you."

Red took the package with dull curiosity. His mother had a knack for embarrassing him, so he hesitantly pulled out what was in the package. A pair of shoes with a note came out, and Red couldn't help but let a big grin plaster his face.

These were running shoes. He'd recognize them anywhere. He had begged and begged and begged some more for these since he turned 8, but they weren't cheap, and his mom said he didn't need them.

Red tossed the note away without bothering to read it and excitedly swapped his shoes with the running shoes. The difference was tremendous. Without running shoes, you could run, but it was easy to trip. With running shoes, the traction made even the roughest of terrain easy to run on.

The aide tried to say something, but Red blasted off like a torpedo out of town. With a shrug, the aide began the long walk back to Pallet Town.

* * *

**A/N**

**TMs past 95 are TMs from gens 3 and 4 that aren't in B2W2.**


	5. Cave Chaos

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Cave Chaos**

"Pika! Pi!" Red couldn't agree more with his partner.

These Zubat were the absolute worst.

Route 3 had been a breeze. None of the trainers were much of a challenge, and the new pokémon didn't interest him enough to be added to his main team.

At the end of the route, Red rushed straight into Mt. Moon without stopping by the Pokémon Center.

That was a mistake.

Red was barely a few hundred feet into the cave, yet the Zubat just wouldn't stop coming. They were weak creatures, especially to his electric type, but it zapped through Pikachu's energy quickly.

This was not going to work.

It took another half an hour for Red to make it back to the entrance. Sunlight and fresh air had never been so refreshing. Pikachu was relieved, to say the least. His sensitive ears could still hear the cries and screeches echoing throughout the cave.

The Pokémon Center was a welcomed reprieve for the duo. The atmosphere made for a much quieter and relaxing environment. It reminded Red of his times as a kid when life was simpler.

The two weary travelers sat down on one of the many couches in the main area and let the cushions envelop them. Pikachu was freshly restored with the help of the nurse and reclining next to Red, so it was time to come up with a plan.

Nothing came to mind immediately, so he turned on his Pokédex and brought up the item list. Pretty much any item that could be found in a store was listed in this piece of technology. Within a minute, Red found something useful.

Repels.

Where was he going to get those? He'd rather not go back to check if Pewter had some, but it could be worse. He could have to ask someone.

That was an absolute last resort for him. He was fairly shy and selectively mute, so asking people anything was incredibly hard.

The nurse was giving yet another of her robotic greetings. Red had been hoping to spend some time with relatively few people, but he'd heard at least six greetings. This being the seventh.

"Are you headed into the cave, Miss?" the nurse asked. A few seconds of silence later, the nurse shouted, "Wait! Make sure you buy repels!"

The sliding glass doors opened and closed as she finished her shouting.

That poor fool, Red thought, she'll be in for…

Red sat up straight with wide eyes. There was only one girl that could've been. Tapping into his one use of Extreme Speed per day, Red ran towards the door. The doors still hadn't closed, so he made a hard left the second he stepped foot outside.

In the distance, Red made out the unmistakable figure of his childhood friend and shouted,

"…Wait…"

Red cringed at his own voice. He'd never liked his voice, but he just tried to yell, and the best he could manage was something akin to his battling voice. A slightly louder than talking level command.

Green was almost at the cave entrance. Red kept running even after Green disappeared into the mouth of the beast. With no hesitation, Red ran into the cave. Luckily, Green was in sight, so Red could track her.

After a few twists and turns, Green stopped to pick up an item off the ground, and Red almost knocked her over. Both being selectively mute, their conversations mostly happen through facial expression.

Green quirked a brow.

Red turned on his Pokédex and showed her a picture of a Zubat.

With a nod of understanding, Green pulled out a repel from her bag.

Red's shoulders sank as he visibly relaxed. He should've known that she'd be prepared. She had always been like that. He would rush ahead and take things on headfirst while she meticulously planned things to the tiniest detail.

They began to walk in comfortable silence through the cave. Green's repels kept the wild pokémon from bothering them and there were hardly any other people in the cave.

A gasp shook Red from his thoughts. His temporary travel companion was frantically reaching into her bag for a pokéball. This caused Red to become alert and scan the area they were in. If Green was so freaked out, they could be in real danger…

A round pink-colored pokémon walked into his line of sight. Green's Bulbasaur appeared in a flash of light next to it.

Red chuckled silently.

So this was what she was all worked up about. He turned on his Pokédex to get some information on the cute pink pokémon in front of him. It turned out to be a Clefairy. A normal type with some alright base stats.

The appeal of such a pokémon was lost on Red.

Green caught it without much difficulty. The Clefairy had to be the cutest pokémon she'd ever seen. Unlike Jigglypuff, Clefairy had cute ears and eyes that weren't the size of its body. This pokémon was definitely going on her team.

Turning excitedly, Green was silently gushing about her new team member. Red smiled and faked enthusiasm for her. Though not to his taste, he would encourage trainers to use the type of pokémon that interested them the most. If Green wanted to use a Clefairy, he wouldn't stop her.

Eventually, they found a ladder and descended to the next floor.

A man wearing black clothing that had a big red "R" on the center of his shirt stopped the two kids a little bit in.

"Lookie here. I found two kids wandering alone. Turn back now and no one'll get hurt."

Perfect. Red was itching for a battle. It'd been a while since a proper trainer challenged him.

Taking his usual battling stance. Red looked over his opponent.

The man, realizing the kids were not going to leave without a fight, gave a tsk of annoyance and pulled out a pokéball threateningly.

"The boys and I bought this pokémon from a vendor at the Pokémon Center. He promised us it was the most powerful pokémon in existence, so don't be shocked when you lose."

Red only smirked in return.

The man sent out his powerful pokémon. The light revealed an orange fish with a rather majestic pair of whiskers. It flopped around on the floor.

It had to be a water type, Red mused. His confidence sky-rocketed.

"…Thunder Shock…" Red commanded.

But nothing happened.

The color drained from Red's face as he realized that his little yellow friend was nowhere to be found. All the dots connected like lightning chaining from point to point. He had left Pikachu in the Pokémon Center when he rushed after Green.

This was a huge mistake. Pikachu was his only team member, so Red had no other pokémon to rely on. If Green wasn't here, he'd have been killed off by the wild pokémon in the cave. It was common knowledge that going into areas with wild pokémon without a pokémon was suicidal.

The man looked around in confusion then began to laugh.

"I guess your pokémon is too scared to come out and battle," the laughter got louder, "Or maybe…" the laughter stopped, and the man began to approach Red, "You don't have any pokémon with you. That'd just be marvelous!"

The figure of the man approaching him made Red tremble. All of the horror stories he grew up hearing about trainers that forget to grab their pokéballs before they leave flashed through his mind.

None of those stories had a happy ending.

"…Vine Whip…" Two green vines swatted the fish sending it hurling towards a stalagmite.

"My Magikarp!" The orange fish had fainted from the single attack. "That vendor was full of Exeggcute. That pokémon sucked!" The man brought out another pokéball and sent out a purple snake, "I'll show you two! Use Bite, Ekans!"

Rattling its tail, the snake lunged towards Bulbasaur.

"…Block and Leech Seed…" Green's voice resonated off the cave walls.

Her partner launched a vine straight into the Ekans' mouth. The snake bit down on the vine after being impaled a couple of inches on it.

Bulbasaur flinched a bit but didn't retract its vines. Ekans looked fine until its eyes widened and it let go crying out loudly.

It wasn't clear to Red what had happened. Bulbasaur flung Ekans off of its vine.

The snake twitched on the ground as three sprout-shaped bumps appeared under the scales of its torso.

Realization smacked Red in the face. He was both disgusted and oddly intrigued. Bulbasaur had planted leech seed inside of its opponent. It would disappear after the battle ended or Bulbasaur fainted, so it wasn't a huge deal, but it would make it feel incredibly weird to move for Ekans.

"Uhh…" The man stared in grotesque disbelief at his poor pokémon, "I'll let you go for now. You should remember this though. Stay out of Team Rocket's way!" Green returned her Bulbasaur causing the leech seed to disappear. Ekans looked visibly relieved as it was also returned.

The man left without another word.

Green turned towards Red to see if he was alright. She was met with a deep bow.

She raised her hands in front of her waving them back and forth.

Red fixed his posture and pulled out a sticky note from his pack. He quickly scribbled something on it and handed it to her.

"I owe ya one."

She tried to give it back, but he rejected it. She sighed and put it into her own bag. They ran into another few Rocket grunts while exploring, but Green had no trouble with them.

Towards the end of the cave, a scientist was looking at some fossils. Green tried to ask what they were, but the scientist sent out his pokémon saying something about not giving them up.

Once defeated, the scientist relented and told the two about old pokémon that can be revived from fossils. The pair of fossils he had found contained Omanyte and Kabuto. Green took a Kabuto fossil, and Red took the other one.

Once they exited the cave, Red fell to his knees and kissed the ground. The grass felt amazing and the light blue sky was so much better than the murky brown cave. At least in Red's opinion. Those hikers might disagree with him.

Green brought a hand in front of her mouth to stifle a giggle as she watched Red. She then proposed to him, in their selectively mute ways, that they go to the Pokémon Center to get some sleep and go back for Pikachu tomorrow. It was already dark out after all.

They made their way across Route 4 and slid down the cliffside into the tall grass. Green caught some new pokémon while they were there and then they headed into town.

They each bought a room in the Pokémon Center and collapsed into the soft expanse of sheets that awaited them.

* * *

"Thanks, nurse…" Blue said trying to get the beautiful lady to give out her name.

"Nice try kiddo. You're young enough to be my child."

"Can I at least get a family name? It's a bit weird calling you just 'nurse.'"

"You wish. Just 'nurse' is fine. Now stop holding up the line."

There was indeed a large line. It was dinner time, so there was a large rush to get registered into the center and get access to the free dinner.

Grabbing a light meal, Blue went to sit down in a secluded corner. He would normally flirt with the cute female trainers, but he was in a hurry to get through Mt. Moon before the day was over.

Blue sat down and ate with the speed of a Snorlax. After smoking the gym leader, Blue amassed a bit of a fan club. Fangirls, to be exact. It was awesome and Blue picked out a cute one and took her on a date. That's when the illusion fell through.

As it turned out, fangirls were crazy. The girl he had taken to a rather expensive lunch was much more interested in his Squirtle than him. It had taken everything in his willpower to see the date through to its end.

Blue's schedule was destroyed too. He had planned to be in Cerulean by nightfall, but it seemed now that he'd make it sometime after the Pokémon Center closed.

A light sound brought Blue's attention to the real world. He looked around and didn't see anything immediately. Trying to triangulate the sound, Blue pinpointed it to be coming from the sofa. Walking around the couch, he eventually discovered something that made his heart flutter.

Buried deep into the couch cushion, a Pikachu was sleeping soundly. The cushion was the same yellow color as a Pikachu's fur, so it was no surprise that Blue only now noticed the mouse.

"Those cushions must be incredibly soft…" Blue muttered and tested it out. He stuck a finger into one of them and gasped as his finger just sank in further and further.

This needed more testing, Blue decided.

He sat down again and leaned back into the cushion this time. His upper body slowly sank in until he was almost engulfed in the cushion. It felt heavenly.

He almost fell asleep but steeled his resolve. With considerable effort, he stood up.

"Alright, little fella. Wake up." Blue prodded the mouse's cheek. Pikachu opened its eyes in annoyance.

"Pika! Pika!" sparks began to fly off the red pouches on his cheek.

"Woah there! Do you know where your trainer is?" Blue asked.

"Pi?" The yellow mouse tried to get up, but it couldn't move. Blue pulled it out of the cushion. Pikachu looked around the room and grew worried. He couldn't find his trainer anywhere.

"Pika! Pi!" The electric rodent pointed to the red-colored wall.

"What? Is there something with the wall?" Blue tilted his head trying to see what Pikachu was pointing at. It took five minutes of communication before Blue figured it out.

"No way! You're Red's Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded in relief.

"Hmmm. Where is that guy anyway?" Blue walked back over to the nurse.

"I thought I rejected you already," the nurse huffed in annoyance.

"So you do remember me. That's sweet."

"Sh-shut up!" a blush painted the nurse's cheeks.

"Do you remember a trainer by the name of Red?"

"…Actually, I do. Doesn't talk much, red cap, Pikachu on his shoulder?"

"That would be him. What room did he get?"

"No room. He left actually." Blue stood frozen for two seconds.

"PIKACHU! LET'S GO!" Blue yelled out.

Pikachu ran and jumped on Blue's shoulder as the young man hauled ass out of there. Blue was certain that Red went to the cave, and he was certain that Red was going to die if Pikachu was here and not with him.

Five steps into the cave and Blue was attacked by Zubat.

"Damn, I forgot to apply a repel!" He pulled out a pokéball.

"Chuuuuuu!" One Thunder Shock fried all the Zubat in the immediate area.

"I could've handled that myself."

"Pika," The mouse rolled its eyes.

"Ahem," Blue got a fiery look in his eyes, "Anyways, let's go find Red. I'm sure he's fine."

"Pika," Pikachu agreed ready to zap down anything that got in his way.

* * *

"What do you mean! I thought you were keeping track of where we've been!"

It had been 2 hours since they entered the cave.

"Pika! Pika! Pi! Pika! Pi! Pi!"

They were now lost.

"Haven't we seen this stalagmite before?"

"Pi! Pika! Pi! Chu!"

"Don't mock me. You don't know where we are either."

"Chu! Pika!"

"I told you a million times. That ladder leads to a dead end. It's the first one we went down!"

"Pika." Whatever, Pikachu thought, he knew where they were and had been trying to tell Blue to go down the same ladder for the past hour. Red understood Pikachu enough to be able to follow basic instructions. This guy was just… insufferable.

"no… no… No… NO!" Blue ruffled through his bag in a panic.

"Pika?"

"I-I'm out… I'm out of repels!"

"KA!" Pikachu was glad Blue couldn't understand him at that moment. He had just uttered some strong words.

This was going to be bad.

"Pikachu! The Zubat are coming! Run!" The two ran for their lives as a wave of bats could be heard flapping their wings.

Blue looked back at the amalgamation of flapping wings and tiny legs and yelled out into the dimly lit cave,

"RED! WHERE ARE YOU?"


	6. Tribulation and Training

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**A/N**

**I missed two weekends, didn't I?**

**I didn't initially intend on it, but the week leading up to my first missed weekend was finals week at my university, and I didn't end up having time to write. ****The week leading up to the second missed weekend was both a holiday week and a friend of mine was in town, so I was busy with all of that.**

**I'm a day late this time because I took the time to reread the prologue and 4 chapters before this one to freshen up on where I was taking this story.**

**So without further ado, please enjoy chapter 5.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Tribulation and Training**

"I think we lost them," Blue whispered between breaths.

"Pika."

The two had found a massive stalagmite to hide behind. The horde of Zubat had flown over them and continued into the cave ahead.

"Pikachu, you see that ladder over there?" Pikachu followed Blue's finger which was pointing towards the far wall, "As soon as the coast is clear, let's run for it."

The yellow mouse nodded its head.

A few random wild pokémon were roaming around between them and the ladder, so the duo waited impatiently for the ensemble of Geodude and Zubat to make a clear path.

"Get ready…" Blue pointed at a small gap starting to form between two of the Geodude.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting shriek pierced the air from behind Blue and Pikachu.

"RUN!" Blue shouted above the Screech attack. Blue rushed forward with Pikachu hot on his tail. A Geodude that was in the way turned to check out the commotion.

"Move!" Blue shouted and picked up the rock type, turned to the side, and chucked it. He then jumped onto the ladder, and Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder. Blue climbed like an Aipom. Once he reached the top, Blue hoisted himself onto the rocky landing.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed ahead. Bright sunlight streamed into the dim cave providing hope to the weary travelers. Blue hastily moved forward and stepped foot onto the soft grass that signified the end of the cave.

"Oh, my Arceus... I never want to experience that again," The young boy was lying on the grass letting the relief wash over him. Pikachu had hopped off oh him as soon as they exited the cave and was staring back at the hole in the mountain.

"Pika…" Pikachu was trying to figure out what happened to its trainer. He was pretty sure they explored every inch of that cave, especially while running away from the Zubat, but Red was nowhere to be found.

Blue noticed Pikachu's gaze and said, "Red has got to be fine. Knowing him, he probably caught something and had his new catch help him through the cave."

His temporary travel companion nodded in worried agreement. He then plopped down next to Blue, and suddenly, Pikachu's eyes narrowed.

"Pika Pika Pi?"

"What?"

"Pi! Pika Pi. Pika Pika Pi." A hand gesture accompanied Pikachu's vocalizations.

"What are you trying to say about… the… sun…" trailing off, Blue shot up into a sitting position. Given that they had left when it was getting dark out, the fact that the sun was high in the sky currently meant…

"How long were we in that cave?!"

* * *

Green put a comforting hand on Red's shoulder. He had been trying to scale the cliffside since they woke up. As it turned out, Route 4 was a one-way shot to Cerulean City. They had jumped down a cliff yesterday, and it hadn't dawned on them that there was no way back up. Usually, routes had at least one full path each way.

The day was passing by at a staggering speed and hunger loomed over them both. Red had gotten up quite early and dragged a sleepy Green out towards Mt. Moon. It was now a little after noon, and Red had yet to make any progress.

"…Oak…" Green suggested to the disheartened boy. If they sent a message to Professor Oak, he could make arrangements to have Pikachu safely brought to Cerulean.

After some deliberation, Red nodded his head in defeat. The two trainers walked to the Pokémon Center and used the PC mail system to send Oak a message.

Green gave Red a questioning gesture towards the cafeteria. When Red accepted, Green grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the Pokémon Center and out towards the Cerulean Exeggcute Café. Last night, Green had asked around for restaurant recommendations and heard this place served some amazing brunch.

It took a few minutes of the two pointing at their menus to get their food ordered, and they began to enjoy each other's company over some fine cuisine.

Green got an Exeggs Benedict, and Red got a Filet and Exeggs combo.

As they were slowly eating through their respective meals, Green tried to discern what Red was thinking. Was he enjoying the food? Was he still thinking about Pikachu? Why did he only eat the egg yolks and not the whites?

Red, on the other side of the table, was studying Green's expression. Why had she brought him here? The cafeteria in the center was free, and the food was edible. It just didn't make sense.

Both of them realized that they were staring at each other and blushed. Neither of them wanted to be the one to break eye contact, so it became a heated staring contest. Both were trying to figure out the other one's thoughts while maintaining eye contact. Red was starting to craft an idea when a tug on his jeans interrupted his concentration. He looked down and suddenly had a Pikachu in his arms.

"Pika! Pika!" His partner cried as they hugged each other.

"…Pikachu…" Red whispered and tightened the hug.

"What the hell man," Blue said as he strolled up to their table, "Pikachu and I thought you were somewhere in Mt. Moon getting killed by wild pokémon, and where do we find you?" Blue pretended to wait for an answer before moving on, "We find you on a date with Green at some fancy brunch place."

Green, who had been sipping on some green tea, choked. Her cheeks felt like they had suffered a flamethrower from an Arcanine and were left burnt.

"I gotta say. I'm jealous. I never would've guessed that you had feelings for her," Blue continued.

"WE'RE NOT DATING!" Red shouted as he stood up and glared daggers at Blue.

Blue's mouth slowly opened into a look of shock. He'd heard rumors that not even Red's mother had ever heard her son shout.

Green remained silent yet obviously stunned in her seat.

Red pulled his cap down to cover his eyes. Before Blue could say anything, Red threw some money on the table and ran out.

"…umm…" Blue began, "I-I'm sorry, Green. I didn't mean to ruin your brunch. I was just messing around with him, honest!"

"…I know…"

"I'll pay for your meal," Blue laid down a generous amount of money, "and don't worry. I'll go catch up with him and make sure he's alright."

As Blue's silhouette faded into the city, Green began to cry. She was reliving Red's outburst over and over again in her mind.

We're not dating…

The words made her stomach churn.

Even after putting in all the effort she had since she met Red, she still wasn't strong enough for him. How many hours had she spent studying with and without him just to keep up with his grades in school?

Green stood up and took the first steps towards leaving.

Leaving the building…

And leaving behind her feelings for the boy she admired so much.

* * *

"Talk to me, Red."

Silence.

"I know you're in there."

Silence.

"I've got a story to share. If you don't mind, I'd like for you to listen."

Silence.

Blue sunk to the floor sitting cross-legged in front of Red's room at the Pokémon Center. He took a deep breath and looked around. The room was closer to the back of the center and therefore less prone to traffic, but Blue didn't want anyone besides Red listening to what he was about to say.

"In case you were never made aware, my gramps and your mom have always been good friends. As such, my gramps knows a lot about your family's history."

Blue paused in case Red reacted to that particular part.

Silence.

"I never was able to get him to tell me everything, but I've gotten small details here and there."

Blue double-checked to make absolutely sure that no one was around.

"When I was growing up, I was made to believe that I had to win. My father, being the son of the world-famous trainer turned professor, had an ego the size of a Wailord. Believe it or not, Oak's not just an encyclopedia. The guy was a top tier battler in his prime. As you might have noticed, learning from the professor gives us an advantage over everyone else. Oak has decades of experience that he passes on to us that can't be found in other schools. Since my dad learned from Oak, he breezed through the gym challenge and was even champion for a short while. He was obsessed with winning. I am the sole male child, so my father forced me to follow in his footsteps. If I made any mistakes, he'd have his Pokémon torture me. I know that I act like my old man sometimes, but I'm working to improve. I went through the distortion world and back, but I think it was all worth it to have met and befriended you and Green."

Having wrapped up his story, Blue got up and stretched. A rustle of blankets caught Blue's attention before the sound died off.

"Well, I've got some stuff to accomplish today. I'll smell ya later."

As he walked away, Blue grinned. Red was definitely listening. The rustling was all the proof Blue needed.

* * *

Pikachu was watching Red pace around the room. The boy seemed to be quite upset, so Pikachu opted to leave him alone. Eventually, Red slumped back onto the bed. A frown broke across his face and his fists tightened as he thought about—

"Pika," Pikachu tugged on Red's jeans to get his attention. Red looked down at his partner who climbed on the boy's chest and nuzzled against him. Red's frown slowly morphed into a small grin as he stroked the pokémon's bright yellow fur.

"Gurrrrrugh"

Red's stomach, having given its battle cry, began to attack with hunger pain.

That's how Red found himself running out to the 24/7 fast food place found in nearly every city. Or at least, that was the plan.

Once Red left the Pokémon Center, a powerful smell captivated his nose. His stomach growled angrily once again, and he let his nose guide him to whatever that awesome smell was. In a matter of seconds, Red was in front of the house just to the left of the Pokémon Center. He didn't hesitate to knock on the door and then proceed to enter the house.

A young lady, seemingly in her early twenties, was cooking up a storm. The awesome scent wasn't coming from that pot though, it was coming from…

Red focused his gaze on a duo of pokémon near the back of the room. The one on the right, he recognized as a Bulbasaur. The one on the left…

Red wasn't too sure about this one. It was round with a blue body and green leaves growing out of the top of its head. A quick Pokédex scan revealed it to be an Oddish. Both of them were just standing there, but the smell was definitely coming from them.

"Sweet Scent," the young lady said with a gentle tone, "It gives off an aroma that attracts pokémon. Sometimes, humans are attracted to it too."

She proceeded to set down bowls of food for the two grass types and a Sandshrew that was off to the right. Pikachu joined the three pokémon on the ground. With experienced finesse, the table was set with two plates piled high with delicious-looking food.

An hour or two later, the young lady, identified as Melanie, laughed vociferously.

"Wait, hold on," she erupted into another fit of giggles, "you're telling me that you fought Brock with just a Pikachu?"

Red nodded.

"That's insane!" Melanie was now clutching her stomach from laughing too hard, "Who even does that?"

Red was thoroughly embarrassed. When telling stories, he wrote them down since it was much easier than trying to gesture everything. Melanie was now putting that piece of paper in a frame much to Red's dismay.

"I don't recommend you challenge Misty with such a serious disadvantage like that," the girl spoke after calming down, "She's the real deal. Your Pikachu should fair fine though. Misty specializes in all-out offensive with water types."

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped onto her lap and puffed his chest out proudly.

"Awww. Aren't you just the most adorable thing? Strong and handsome."

Her praise brought a blush to the rodent's cheeks. She then picked him up and hugged him.

"Hold on a second. Red, this Pikachu seems to be extremely happy! You must be a great trainer."

Red rolled his eyes. Obviously, Pikachu was happy because of her and not him.

"Since you are such a nice trainer, I'll let you take this Bulbasaur."

Hearing its name, Bulbasaur trotted over to the table.

"Listen here Bulbasaur, this man is going to be your new trainer. Just look at how happy his Pikachu is."

Melanie stopped squeezing Pikachu and held him out so that Bulbasaur could look at the mouse's face. Pikachu's eyes were closed in bliss, and his smile stretched his entire face.

Bulbasaur looked back over at Red and eyed the young boy up and down. In Bulbasaur's not so humble opinion, Red seemed like he had issues. Bulbasaur was not one for drama, but there was something else hidden in Red's eyes.

Bulbasaur used its vines to grab a spare pokéball out of Red's bag and captured itself. Putting a hand in front of her mouth, Melanie giggled lightly.

"You must be special cause this Bulbasaur has rejected many trainers before you. Tell me, what's your name?"

Red spent the next few hours chatting with Melanie.

Stories were told.

Jokes were made.

Bulbasaur was embarrassed… multiple times.

The sky was streaked in yellow by the time Red and Pikachu left Melanie's house. It seemed to Pikachu that Red had forgotten about his worries.

But one thing worried him.

They weren't headed for the Pokémon Center.

"Pika?" Where were they headed?

Red gave Pikachu a look.

"Pi Pi Pika Pi Pi" Pikachu protested. He knew that look. They were about to do some training, but the sun was setting, and Pikachu was exhausted after having been awake for around a day and a half at the current moment.

Ignoring his partner, Red went towards Mt. Moon to Route 4. The tall grass rustled as Red waded into it. Pikachu noticed Red's arm raise to the starting position of the gesture he used to have Pikachu battle.

"Pi Pika," he cursed and prepared himself for another long night.

To his surprise, Pikachu felt a pokéball tap him. The sensation of being put into a pokéball washed over the electric type.

"…Sleep well…" Red said softly as he gave his pokéball a head pat. He then proceeded to pull out his freshly obtained Bulbasaur. The grass type cried its name as it appeared in the tall grass.

"…Training…" Red said to which Bulbasaur gave a nod. Being a starter, Red knew that this species was supposed to be pretty damn good. Grass and electric were kind of redundant types to have on the same team given the existence of water types, but Bulbasaur was the only traditional starter to have a duel typing which was pretty cool if you asked Red.

Not to mention, grass would cover his immense weakness to ground.

Red needed to see what this pokémon could do before he made any big, team changing, decisions. Starter or not, Bulbasaur had yet to prove itself.

A few hours later, a hiker exited Mt. Moon ready to camp out. Heading towards Cerulean City, the Hiker jumped down the cliff to find a young man and his Bulbasaur destroying the wild pokémon around the area.

"Not good," the hiker mumbled to himself and quietly started to climb back up the cliff. He carried mostly rock/ground type pokémon, and he knew better than to try and battle a grass type like that Bulbasaur. If the young man saw him, he'd have to battle.

The hiker was making great progress until the notch in the wall he was gripping broke off. His life flashed before his eyes as he plummeted down to his imminent death, and a scream could be heard.

Closing his eyes, the hiker prepared for the worst.

Except he didn't hit the ground.

Upon opening his eyes, the hiker found that he was being lowered slowly to the ground by vines. Bulbasaur set down the heavy man with a grunt of exertion.

After getting over his shock, the hiker walked over to his savior and said, "Thank you so much! I was climbing the cliff and the part of the wall I was using as a hold broke off."

Bulbasaur tried to act modestly as the hiker stroked the grass type's head in appreciation.

"But you know…" the hiker turned to Red, "When two trainer's eyes meet, they are compelled to battle."

"…" Red met the man's challenge by pulling down his cap to cover his eyes.

He felt kind of bad for the hiker.

His Bulbasaur had just learned Razor Leaf after all.


	7. Feeling Faint

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**A/N**

**I hope everyone has been doing well.**

**I moved into a new place and started a new job.**

**I wanted to get this out last weekend, but I hit some writer's block.**

**Enjoy and have a wonderful week.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Feeling Faint**

"Congratulations! You beat our five contest trainers! You just earned a fabulous prize!"

A young man wearing clothing similar to that of a Pokémart employee handed Red a sphere of pure gold. The gleam of the nugget was enough to give anyone a warm and fuzzy feeling, even Red. As Red was stuffing the valuable item in his bag, the man continued,

"By the way, how would you like to join Team Rocket? We're a group of professional criminals specializing in Pokémon! Want to join?"

Where had he heard that name before? Red racked his brain for all of three seconds before deciding it wasn't important. After all, if it was important, he would remember. He shook his head then turned to leave, believing the conversation to be over.

"Are you sure?" the man persisted.

Red hesitated for half a second then continued walking.

"Come on," the man ran forward to catch up and put a hand on Red's shoulder, "join us!"

Pikachu, who was on Red's other shoulder, released sparks from his cheeks in a threatening manner. Ignoring the threat, the man tightened his grip on Red's shoulder and said, "I'm telling you to join!"

In one swift movement, Red brushed off the offending hand and spun around as Pikachu hopped down in between the two humans.

"…Okay, you need convincing! I'll make you an offer you can't refuse!"

Red narrowed his eyes as the man in front of him threw off his disguise to reveal a fully black uniform with a big red "R" printed on the chest area. An Ekans was sent out to represent the evil team.

"…Thunder Shock…" Red commanded.

But nothing happened.

The color drained from Red's face as he realized that his little yellow friend was nowhere to be found. This was exactly like the cave. Red fell to his knees in utter disbelief.

Now revealed to be a rocket grunt, the man waited for the young boy to make the first move. Red stood silent as a statue.

"What? Not gonna make a move?" the thug asked.

Red then fell to his knees, and Pikachu looked back in surprise.

"Whatever kid," the grunt clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Ekans, use Bite."

Distracted by his trainer, Pikachu didn't react to the purple snake slithering up and locking its jaws on him. Giving a cry of pain, Pikachu released a Thunder Shock to shake the reptile off of him. Ekans, quite literally, gritted its teeth through the pain of the zap, hanging on to Pikachu.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu gave a desperate plea for help. Why was Red not doing literally anything?

In Red's mind, Pikachu was still gone, Ekans was sinking its fangs into his arm, and the grunt was laughing.

"Pikachu… I'm sorry. Please forgive me for leaving you behind!" Red sobbed, "I can't do this without you!"

The fact that he just uttered a complete sentence should've been a massive indicator that what he was experiencing wasn't real. The snake let go of his arm and coiled around his body, becoming bigger with each complete coil around his torso.

"Maybe I deserve this," Red thought out loud as the massive purple reptile unhinged its jaw and loomed over the young trainer. As the maw of the beast descending upon him, Red only thought about Pikachu. The moment when he first picked up the pokéball and released his furry friend. The first battle with Blue and his Squirtle. The battle with Brock and all the preparation that went into it.

"Red."

Time seemed to stop. Red looked around in confusion. That was Green's voice. Soft yet firm. As if the giant snake was a backdrop, Green walked in front of him. She was now standing on nothing with the mouth open behind her.

"How are you doing th—" Red started, but Green put a finger to his lips.

"Red. What are you doing?" Green asked with a tilt of her head.

"I-I was just…" he trailed off, suddenly feeling burning shame.

"Just… what?"

"I left Pikachu behind. I failed him as his trainer."

"What are you talking about?"

"You were there. Remember when—"

"Yes, I remember. You left behind your starter so that you could save me."

Green clasped her hands together in front of her chest and looked down.

"Red, it made me so happy that you did that for me. Now let me return the favor."

"What do you… mean…" Red watched in disbelief as Green turned into a Bulbasaur.

"Red! Wake up!" the odd-looking Bulbasaur shouted as a copious amount of vines shot out from the bulb and struck the Ekans.

"…"

Red brought a hand up to his cheek. It stung.

"Bulbasaur! Bulba! Saur! Saur! Ba!"

Red opened his eyes and looked down. The giant Ekans was gone, and the crazy Bulbasaur was gone. Red's mind kicked into high gear.

Assessing the situation, he realized that Pikachu had fainted. His Bulbasaur was ready to battle, and the opponent was an Ekans.

"…Take Down…"

The grunt's pupils dilated. The tone of Red's voice sent a shiver down his spine. Red's eyes could pierce a Steelix's skin.

Bulbasaur built up speed as he charged at Ekans.

"Ekansssssssss…" the snake hissed in worry at its trainer.

"Wha? Oh, uh, d-dodge!" the grunt said as he re-focused on the battle.

It was too late. Ekans took the attack full force and fainted as it flew back.

Completely shocked, the grunt returned his Ekans and palmed another pokéball.

"With your ability, you'd become a top leader in Team Rocket." The man fiddled with his other pokéball for a few seconds before clipping it back to his belt. "I forfeit."

Bulbasaur remained alert, and Red approached his fainted partner.

"…Pikachu…" Red knelt down and gently picked him up.

* * *

Red, Green, and Blue were relaxing in the Oak Corral.

The Oak Corral was an expansive underground environment to raise and learn about pokémon. Different terrains such as plains, deserts, rocky, and lakes were sectioned such that any type of pokémon could live comfortably. The whole operation was incredibly expensive to start up. The construction costs and monthly electricity bill could make the president of Silph Co. have a heart attack. Oak, being the amazing businessman he is, invested everything into electric types at the start. Eventually, the electric types were able to produce the electricity required to run the facility. Now, the only costs for the Corral are expansion and food-related.

If one were to go past the lake and into the forest section, there is a well-hidden split in the hiking trail about one kilometer into the west side. There are two trees that bend into one another forming a sort of gate. Walking through this gate and walking straight for a few hundred meters will put you on a disconnected trail. Following the trail, one will come upon a small, but still spacious, pond in a clearing. The grass surrounding the pond contained a flower bed full of many types of flowers. Most of them were various colors of Zinnia and Anemone with a few other types sprinkled throughout.

Having Oak as their teacher, the three colors had access to the Corral. The aforementioned pond was discovered by Green and became a spot where the three of them would go to unwind and study.

"I can't believe everyone else gets to start today," Blue grumbled. He was currently laying on the grass, limbs spread out.

As usual, he was met with silence. Of course, after ten years, one gets used to people like Red and Green.

Today was everyone's tenth birthday. All three of them were born on the same day.

"Like seriously, why do we have to wait a whole extra year to start our adventures? All my friends from Viridian are making fun of me…"

As Blue moped, Red and Green partook in their silent communication. Glances, small body motions, and eye contact were able to go a long way to express things to each other. Red and Green were sitting near Blue in a manner such that they were facing each other. Green glanced at Blue and rolled her eyes which caused Red to let a small amount of air escape him as he was humored by Green.

"You better not be laughing at me!" Blue said and sat up.

Both Red and Green pointed at each-other accusingly.

"Don't give me that. I know it was Red that laughed. Which means…" Blue turned to Green, "you were making fun of me!"

Green put up her hands in self-defense.

"Whatever," Blue flopped back down onto the grass, "it's not really all that important. I can catch up easily. They'll probably still be on the third gym when I get started."

Green repeated her glance and eye roll routine.

Red, not wanting to repeat his earlier blunder, smirked.

"So, what goals do you two have for your journeys?" Blue waited a few seconds before continuing, "Me personally, I want to beat my gramps."

Green pondered the question. What did she want to accomplish during her journey? Being the champion didn't completely appeal to her. Like, being the champion would be cool, but it seemed like a lot of work, and she wasn't too fond of the spotlight. Traveling to different regions could be neat… who was she kidding, she'd only travel if Red traveled. Perhaps…

As Green pondered, Red joined Blue on the ground and also began to think. He knew he wanted to complete the Pokédex. He also knew he wanted to get all the stars on his trainer card. Was there anything else?

"…No fainting…" Red proclaimed.

"No… fainting?" Blue repeated the words, not quite registering what they meant.

Green quirked a brow at Red. If that meant what she thought it did, he was crazy.

"WAIT!" Blue sat up and turned to Red with a fiery look in his eyes, "You mean…"

Red nodded. The look in Blue's eyes told him that Blue knew what he meant.

"You're crazy. There's never been a single trainer who hasn't had a pokémon faint."

"…Not yet…"

* * *

Burning shame.

Red gently laid Pikachu onto the counter and that was all he felt.

Burning shame.

Having a pokémon faint was something Red never thought he would have happen to him. Now he was at the Pokémon Center, and the nurse was piercing his soul with her judgmental eyes.

"I'll just take your pokémon real quick."

A few seconds later, Pikachu came running and jumped over the counter and into Red's arms.

"Pika! Pika!"

"…I'm sorry…" Red mumbled and grabbed his Bulbasaur's pokéball. He stroked his partner's head and walked towards the entrance. Since Red was depressed and not really feeling like adventuring, he wandered around the city. There was a bike shop near the route 4 exit, and Red thought a bike would be super convenient to travel with.

"Welcome!" the bike shop owner shouted as Red entered the small building. The place didn't meet Red's expectations at all. There were only a few bikes in columns and tools scattered about the floor. A couple of other customers perused the shop.

Pikachu jumped off Red's shoulder and stopped near a red bike towards the back.

"Chu! Pi!" Pikachu pointed at the bike and jumped excitedly.

So Pikachu liked this bike… Red couldn't see any reason to object to Pikachu's choice, so he rolled it up to the counter.

"Ah, what a fantastic choice!" The bike shop owner walked out from behind the counter and said, "But, I can't help but notice that you chose the cheapest model. This bad boy here," the owner slapped the seat of the red bike right next to the one that Red had picked, "can traverse so much terrain. Perhaps you're tired of your teacher lecturing you about the time and place to use bikes. This model, through unexplained scientific mechanisms, blocks those thoughts out! Can I interest you in switching?"

Red glanced at Pikachu. If he was being honest, being able to block out Oak's annoying reminder from his thoughts was a pretty sweet deal. If Pikachu was okay with it…

"Pika!" Pikachu shook his head and pointed at the bike they already had picked out.

"Oh, you still insist on that bike there. This model includes heated seating and autopilot. It's on the cutting edge of bicycle technology, and you two seem like sophisticated gentlemen. That outdated model you chose is beneath people and pokémon with such refined taste."

Red's eyes widened. Heated seating… autopilot… this bike was… it was a dream come true. Red looked at Pikachu with puppy-dog eyes.

"Pika! Pika! Chu! Ka!" Pikachu argued with the owner, ignoring Red completely.

"What!? You still refuse! I assure you that it would be a mistake to buy anything but the latest model. What will you do when your friends flex on you with their cutting-edge bikes. You will be capped at measly one-quarter horsepower pedals while they will have one-half horsepower."

The owner and Pikachu were glaring daggers at each other. Neither side was willing to concede defeat.

"…Prices…" Red asked. He figured it might help if the new model was out of his price range anyways. Then the choice would be made infinitely more simple.

"I-I see," the owner huffed, "normally, the new model goes for 2 million pokédollars and the old model goes for 1.5 million pokédollars, but just for you, I'll take 500 grand off both."

Red felt his wallet leave his pocket and run away. There was no way anyone could afford something that ridiculously priced. Quietly mourning the loss of heated seats and faster transportation, Red walked the bike back to its spot and bowed before leaving.

"Wait! If money is an issue, we can set up a payment plan! You can pay in installments for as little as 10 easy payments of 10k a month!" Red ignored the owner and left the shop.

There was nothing else interesting in town except for an old couple who were trading a Jynx for a Poliwhirl. Red made a mental note to come back for that.

Regardless, Red felt it was about time to continue on his adventure. He went back up towards nugget bridge and nearly got run over. Some shmuck with a bike came flying off the bridge only missing Red because he leaped out of the way.

The guy on the bike drifted to a stop and hopped off of the two-wheeled machine.

"Woah! Sorry about that! I'm still getting used to this new thing… Red?"

Red got up and looked to see Blue run a hand through his hair.

"Well, I'll be an Ambipom's uncle. I didn't think you would be this far behind." Blue said with a certain haughtiness plaguing his tone, "Since you're here—"

"…The bike…" Red interrupted. Red was incapable of understanding just how Blue managed to get a hold of such an expensive object.

"What about it?"

"…Money…"

"Oh," Blue chuckled, "You won't believe this. I called my gramps to ask for a small loan, and he told me I could get a bike if it was 1 million or less. At first, I was sweating cause the cheapest bike was 1.5 million. I talk to the owner, and he says he'll give me a 500k discount cause I looked like a man of fine taste, but I'm no shmuck. If I'm getting a bike, it's gonna be the latest model. I haggled the guy down and snagged the latest model for a clean 1 mil."

Red was utterly astonished. A SMALL loan he said. This guy was too much. Red was ready to retire and live on a mountain for three years.

"Anyways, let's battle. I'm excited to see how strong you've gotten."

Red pulled down his cap. If it was a battle he wanted…

"…The bike…"

"What?"

"…If I win…"

"Oh, hell no. I'm not betting my bike. Do you even own anything close to the worth of this beauty?"

"…" Blue had a point. Red sighed and gestured for his partner to step in.

"Still relying on that yellow mouse, huh?" Blue tossed a pokéball in front of him. A bird with brown feathers that looked suspiciously like a Pidgey popped out. "I wonder… Pidgeotto, use Whirlwind!"

Blue had no expectations. The move was supposed to force the opponent to switch to a random pokémon. Since Red only had that Pikachu, the move should fail.

The bird flapped its wings at a staggering speed that caused a small whirlwind to form. Pikachu braced against the wind only to lose his footing and get tossed behind Red. With a flash, Bulbasaur was released from his pokéball.

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur looked around in confusion. He had been enjoying a nice relaxing nap.

"Red. You actually picked up a new pokémon?" Blue looked genuinely shocked, "I can't believe it. I figured you'd solo the gym challenge with just that starter of yours, but I guess you just picked up another—more traditional—starter. Plus, grass doesn't do much more than electric other than cover ground."

Red ignored his childhood… frenemy. Blue's banter gave Red enough time to use his Pokédex to find out that the Pidgeotto was an evolution of Pidgey.

"…Sleep Powder…"

Bulbasaur's bulb released a green powder into the air. It dispersed harmlessly.

"Gust."

Pidgeotto used his wings to send a gust of wind at the grass type.

"…Leech Seed…"

A barrage of seeds were shot towards the airborne creature. It dodged it.

"Good job! Now, hit em with a Quick Attack."

Like a missile, the bird shot towards Bulbasaur. Red wracked his brain. There had to be a way to hit this thing.

Bulbasaur was unable to react to the speedy attack and recoiled at the impact.

"…Take Down…"

The green quadruped growled and built up speed towards the bird. Once he had hit the necessary velocity, he jumped and nailed Pidgeotto in the stomach. Bulbasaur winced since using the attack was like trying to bust a door down. You can ram into it, but you'll feel the recoil.

"Try Sand Attack."

Sand was tossed towards Bulbasaur.

"…Dodge…"

Bulbasaur reacted by lunging to the left. The sand barely missed. Red thought that moves that lowered accuracy and raised evasion should be banned. They were so dumb.

An idea surfaced in Red's mind.

"…Grab it…" Bulbasaur hesitated at the peculiar command before sending out its vines.

"Oh, no you don't. Pidgeotto, grab the vines."

Pidgeotto narrowly avoided a vine and grabbed it with its talons. Another vine wrapped around the bird, surprising it.

"…Sleep Powder…"

Bulbasaur held Pidgeotto above him and released the powder once more. This time, the bird was right there and slowly closed its eyes.

"Pidgeotto! Wake up!" Blue shouted.

"…Slam it…"

Bulbasaur slammed the bird into the ground. Somehow, Pidgeotto was still asleep.

"Pidgeotto!"

"…Switch…"

Pikachu, who had been checking out another Pikachu across the bridge, snapped to attention and swapped with Bulbasaur.

"Pidgeotto! You really need to wake up!" Blue said as he eyed the monstrous electric type nervously.

"…Thunder Shock…"

Just like that. Pidgeotto was out of commission.

"I think I got just the thing for that Pikachu of yours," Blue said and sent out a humanoid pokémon. The creature was levitating, had yellowish skin, and brown armor. At least, it looked like armor.

Red had never seen it before, so he cautiously waited for it to make a move.

"Teleport!" Blue said after looking at his move list.

Nothing happened.

"What!? I thought it was supposed to be 'top tier' or whatever," Blue clutched his head in annoyance.

"…Switch…Razor Leaf…"

Bulbasaur retook the field and used its vines to throw two sharp leaves at the floating pokémon. The single move fainted it.

"Uh…" Blue chuckled nervously, "Rattata! Help me out!"

The purple rat appeared and gave a mighty squeak.

"…Razor Leaf…"

"Bite."

The two pokémon used their moves. One of the two razor-sharp leaves hit the rat, but it also reached Bulbasaur and bit down on his leg.

"Keep it up with Quick Attack."

"…Leech Seed…" Red was conscious of the fact that Take Down did recoil damage, and he'd have to heal it off somehow.

Rattata had no problems dodging the seeds and hitting Bulbasaur.

Red bit down on his tongue and called for another switch. If his Bulbasaur kept going, he'd faint. Red was not ready to go through that again.

"…Thunder Shock…"

A bolt of electricity struck Rattata. It shrugged it off.

"Quick Attack again!"

Rattata started to attack, but the 'quick' attack was more like a 'regular' attack.

"You've gotta be kidding me… paralysis again…" Blue groaned.

"…Quick Attack…" Red smirked. This was amusing to him. Using the opponent's own attack to win.

Rattata never stood a chance as Pikachu hit it like a truck, and it was knocked out.

"Alright. Your fun stops here." Blue sent out his Squirtle.

"…Quick Attack…"

"Withdraw!"

The turtle retreated into its shell before Pikachu hit him. After Pikachu bounced back, Squirtle came back out with barely any damage suffered. A blue glow encased the water type.

The battle drew on with Red only calling Quick Attack. Blue kept using Withdraw to block it and began to laugh.

"I can't believe you let my defense get this high! You fool."

"…Quick Attack…"

"Withdraw!" Blue said like a kid at a candy store. This Withdraw would max out his defense.

As Pikachu closed in on the turtle, Red said,

"…Electro Ball…"

Pikachu's tail suddenly built up a ball of electricity and slammed it into the turtle. It was a critical hit.

"No way…" Blue stood aghast as his starter fainted, "You lucky son of a Bidoof."

Red accepted his prize money.

"You should go talk to Bill. He lives on the cape and has pictures of super rare pokémon. Well, smell ya later!"

With that, Blue left. Red turned towards nugget bridge and looked at the beautiful cape off in the distance. If Bill lived there, Red had no problems with going.


	8. A Shiny New Team Member

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Shiny New Team Member**

Five steps.

Five steps were all that Red took across the golden-colored bridge.

"Hey, wait up!"

Red froze in the middle of taking his sixth step. He could've sworn he just destroyed this guy. Upon turning around, Red saw Blue come to a stop in front of him.

"I feel sorry for you," Blue said with a look the indicated pity. Red's face scrunched up. Just how could the _loser_ of the previous battle feel sorry for the _winner_? Wasn't that his line if anything?

"No, really," Blue continued after seeing Red's reaction, "You're always plodding behind me."

Red searched Blue's face for hints. There had to be a reason behind this sham of a setup. It seemed quite obvious, to Red at least, that Blue would always be ahead. It had been like that since they were kids. Blue always finished the tests first, Red would finish them next, and Green would finish last.

"So here, I'll give you a little present as a favor."

Red was given a device that resembled that of a Pokédex. It was rectangular with rounded edges. The main color was a dark red with white accents. A small screen sat slightly left of the center. Inhabiting the area left of the screen were 4 black buttons, and a white pokéball-esque trio of buttons adorned the area right of the screen.

"A chatty gossip like you…" Blue struggled to keep a straight face, "That thing's perfect."

Red just shoved it into his bag.

"All right, this time I really am gone. Smell ya!"

Another useless item to add to the ever-growing pile, Red figured.

With that little distraction out of the way, Red ran past the 5 trainers on the bridge. There was a long and narrow stretch of land directly left that led back towards town with tall grass covering it. Not-so-hidden in the grass was a young boy in a uniform that resembled that of the illustrious Kanto Scout Organization. Boys and girls in this organization wore green uniforms and usually ventured on routes without much difficult terrain. The boys were referred to as campers and the girls were referred to as picnickers.

Red had no trouble dispatching of this camper's pokémon and taking the prize money to boot. The next hour was spent catching new pokémon. Oddish and Bellsprout seemed to be plentiful on this route which was disappointing to Red since he already had a grass type. Just as he was about to leave, a small humanoid creature that floated in the air teleported in front of him.

The surprise entrance caused Red to startle and fall backward. Pikachu was sent tumbling. Once Red gained his senses, he realized that the pokémon he was looking at was the same one that Blue had used in their battle earlier. An Abra. Blue had said during their battle that it was supposed to be 'top tier,' so that seemed promising. Of course, Red was going to catch it either way, so he might as well debate whether to add it to his team after he caught it.

*blip*

Red's stoic face slowly soured. If it could teleport in front of him, it stood to reason that it could also teleport away from him. Red looked up to judge how much longer he was going to have sunlight. He wanted to make it to Bill's house and back before sunset, so given the current time, he was going to have to shelf catching this pokémon.

The strip of land he was currently standing on ended unceremoniously, so Red turned around and proceeded past the end of the bridge. A couple of hills that lead into the side of the much larger mountains stood directly north of him. To the right was the beginning of Route 25. There was no discernible way to reach the top of the right-most hill, so Red took the obvious slope up the other hill.

"Why is this so hard?" a boy with blue hair asked. He was wearing a pink shirt with a red undershirt and a brown fringe jacket. The colors clashed so much that it kinda worked.

Red was going to leave, but he accidentally kicked a pebble which grabbed the guy's attention.

"Oh, are you a trainer?" the boy inquired.

Red gave a nod.

"I have this Charmander, but I'm no good at raising pokémon," a pause occurred as the boy looked down at the ground, "I thought this pokémon was going to be easier to raise, but it has been hell trying to defeat Misty."

Red looked on in disbelief. Did this guy not understand type advantages? Misty used water types, so a fire type like Charmander, naturally, would have a rough time.

"Plus," the boy continued, "he's sick or something. His skin is all yellow instead of red. I was going to let him loose, so I came up here, but it's harder than I thought it would be."

Red didn't respond. He had never felt the urge to release a pokémon, so he didn't know what it was like.

"But," the trainer lifted his head, "you can take him from me! I'll feel way better if I know he's being raised well."

Red just held out his hand. Before the whole Pikachu incident happened when he was choosing his starter, he was going to choose Charmander. Everyone in the town, including Oak, had predicted that three colors would choose the starter that corresponded to their name. Charmander for Red, Squirtle for Blue, and Bulbasaur for Green. Red, at first, didn't want to choose Charmander just to subvert everyone's expectations. As Red got closer to that fated day, he slowly accepted his destiny.

Now that a boy was just handing him a Charmander, he was not going to refuse. As soon as the pokéball was in his hand, Red took off without a care in the world for what else the boy had to say.

Truth be told, Red was pretty excited.

But… the boy did say the Charmander was sick, so he was going to go back to the Pokémon Center and see about treating it. Luckily, the center was rather empty, so there was no line. Red wrote out a quick note explaining what was wrong with the pokémon and set the pokéball, with the note, down on the counter.

"Welcome to the…" the nurse trailed off as she noticed the note and began to read. Once she finished, she asked, "Would you mind if I sent out your pokémon to get a look?"

Red gave his consent, and the Charmander appeared on the counter.

"I-I've never seen this before! Give me a bit while I run some tests."

The poor Charmander, having little clue as to what was happening to it, was whisked away on a gurney. After what seemed like an eternity to Red, the nurse came back out with the Charmander.

"I've run every test I can, but this Charmander seems to be perfectly fine albeit over-used. If he takes it easy for a day, he should be in tip-top shape."

Red blinked. Was that it?

"…Color…" Red asked.

"Yes, well… I have no idea why this Charmander's coloring is like this. I can say with confidence that it's not a health issue. You might inquire with Professor Oak. I can contact him if you'd like."

Red nodded. He hadn't seen the old man in a hot second, and his curiosity was killing him.

Oak had promised to show up in an hour, so Red used the time to hunt for Abra. By the time Oak flew in on the lab's Pidgeot, Red was going insane. Abra had to be the most annoying thing to catch in the entire world.

Red had to tear himself away from the frustration to return to the Pokémon Center.

"Ah, Red!" the professor said as Red walked through the automatic doors, "I hear you have an interesting pokémon."

With a nod, Red sent out his newly acquired Charmander. Oak began to poke and prod the little monster.

"How strange…" Oak murmured as he continued his examination, "Red, where did you get this specimen?"

Red wrote down the story to which Oak ran a hand through his hair.

"I can't say I've seen this particular phenomenon with Charmander before, but I believe I know what is going on," Oak led Red to the PC and pulled up a photo, "Do you see any pokémon in this picture?"

Red squinted. The picture was taken underwater, so it was hard to make out anything. There was this large blob that… Red did a double-take.

"…Gyarados…"

"Good eye, son. That there is a Gyarados with red scales. As you know, Gyarados usually have blue scales. This rare colored Gyarados was found in the Lage of Rage in the Johto region."

Red nodded along.

"We aren't entirely sure why the pokémon is oddly colored, but our working theory is that certain members of a species evolved to have different coloration. It's just a random mutation. We've been using the unofficial term 'rare coloration' to describe this pokémon, and until now, the red Gyarados was the only known rare coloration pokémon to exist. We've left it alone, so it's a real treat to have a captured rare coloration pokémon."

Red was cringing hard. 'Rare coloration' was such a long-winded and bad name. It wasn't like he had a better one though.

"Hello, nurse! I'm back and in need of your sweet, sweet—" the excited voice stopped. Everyone, even the Charmander who was being ogled, turned to look at the main entrance.

"Blue…" Oak sighed, "please don't flirt with women twice your age…"

"It wasn't flirting!" Blue's cheeks were as red as a normal Charmander, "I was just… expressing my excitement."

An awkward silence permeated the room.

Blue cleared his throat, "Anyways… what is going on? Why are you even here, Gramps?"

"Red found this rare coloration Charmander, so I was taking a look at it."

"Rare what-now?" Oak gave Blue the run-down on rare coloration pokémon, "You have got to be kidding me."

"What?" Oak questioned.

"That name is way too ugly sounding. It's like nails on a chalkboard."

"Well, what do you suggest then?"

"Well…" Blue hesitated as he looked at the Charmander, "how about we call them shiny pokémon?"

"…"

Everyone in the room had different reactions.

Red was relieved that it was easy to say.

Blue was nervous since no one was saying anything.

Oak was wondering if he could use the word 'shiny' in an official scientific paper and not be the laughingstock among his peers.

The nurse was thinking about how Charmander really did seem to have a shine to it.

Charmander was spacing out.

… and Pikachu was stealing a freshly baked brownie from the cafeteria.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming too awkward to bear, Oak cleared his throat,

"Erm, I have no issues with it. Anyone else?"

The room held no objections.

"Alright! From this day forward, pokémon with irregular coloration shall be known as shiny pokémon. Now," Oak turned towards Red and Blue, "this means that the two of you will have to search far and wide to see if every species has a shiny variant."

Red wasn't about to promise anything. If it was anything like catching an Abra, he wanted nothing to do with it. Blue, on the other hand, was getting pumped.

"Leave it to me! It'll be no sweat," Blue proclaimed.

"I'm sure you'll do great, Blue," Oak chuckled lightly then continued, "Before I leave, how are your Pokédexes coming along?"

Blue smirked, "I've owned 22 different species."

"Wonderful! And you, Red?"

"…21…"

"YEESSSS!" Blue jumped in celebration, but he cleared his throat quickly, "Anyways, I'm gonna head out. You know how it is, gotta catch some more pokémon and the like. Smell y'all later."

"I'm going to head home too. It was good seeing you again Red," Oak said as he left the building.

Red heaved a sigh as he returned his fire type. That had been an afternoon… well… spent. He turned towards the dark corner where Pikachu was nibbling on a piece of cheesecake. The young trainer scooped his partner up, uncaring towards the fact that the cheesecake slice was now spilled on the floor.

Several moments later, Red was once again at the end of Route 24. He was losing daylight fast, so he'd have to kick it into high gear to accomplish what he wanted to. The nurse said to let his new team member rest, so he was going to have to rely on Pikachu and Bulbasaur.

After the first trainer battle, his Bulbasaur started glowing. Pikachu squeaked in excitement as he knew exactly what was going on. Red, however, was pretty lost. Was this an example of a shiny pokémon? It seemed to be shiny to him.

What emerged from the light was anything but what Red expected. A similar-looking pokémon now stood where Bulbasaur stood previously. This new creature was slightly bigger and had a red flower bulb instead of a green one with large green leaves protruding from it.

Consulting the Pokédex revealed it to be the evolution to Bulbasaur, Ivysaur.

"…" Red mused. That's what it looked like when pokémon evolve.

It wasn't long before Red made it to the end Route 25. A small cottage sat alone at the top of a cape. The setting sun looked quite lovely bathing the water and everything else in a soft yellow. Red gave the view a good 5 seconds before proceeding into the cottage.

The lights were on in the room and two large machines sat in the back. A single computer with a plethora of wires attached to it was located slightly left of the center of the room. To complete the look, a Clefairy doll was sat next to the computer facing the strange machines.

Red, not being able to help himself, jiggled the computer mouse. A picture of a Meowth hanging from a branch that read, "hang in there" greeted Red. He smiled a little. This man was obviously a man of culture. Next, Red dug through the files. There were a bunch of nonsensical modules labeled 'teleporter' and some pictures. The first picture contained something that Red recognized. It was an Eevee. It was only the most common pokémon to keep as a pet. The next and last three pictures were in a folder labeled 'Gen I' and contained the pictures of the fire, water, and electric evolutions to Eevee. Flareon, Vaporeon, and Jolteon respectively.

"Hey!" a voice called out.

Red stopped messing with the computer and looked around the room. To his surprise, there wasn't a soul to be seen.

"Down here!"

Red looked down and immediately jumped back. The Clefairy doll had moved and seemed to be talking.

"Hiya, I'm a pokémon!" the Clefairy said in a goofy voice.

Red quirked a brow as if to say "really?"

The Clefairy doll frowned and said, "No, I'm not. These dumb instincts are getting to me. Let me try that again," the Clefairy hopped on the desk where the computer sat, "Hiya, I'm Bill. A true-blue pokémaniac!"

Red narrowed his eyes. Was this thing trying to pull a fast one on him?

"Hey, what's with that skeptical look? I'm not joshing you, pal. Listen, I was doing an experiment when a Clefairy jumped into one of my teleporters. I went in after it, but I forgot that my experiment was going, and the cell combination system was activated while I was getting the Clefairy. You gotta help me out."

Red just shrugged. He really didn't have to help him out, if he was even telling the truth.

"No!? Now don't be so cold! Come on, you gotta help a guy in deep, deep trouble! What do you say, chief?"

What the hell? Red nodded.

"All right! Wait till I get inside the teleporter. When I do, go to my PC and run the Cell Separation System."

Red did as instructed. The teleporters whirled and made a lot of noise for a few seconds and suddenly both of them opened. From the one that the Clefairy doll stepped into, a man stepped out. From the other one, a Clefairy skipped out.

"Yeehah! Thanks, bud! I owe you one! So, did you come to see how my box system works?"

Red shook his head.

"You didn't? That's a bummer. I've got to thank you somehow…"

As Bill was talking, a voice interrupted from behind them.

"…Clefairy…" the Clefairy that had been combined with Bill happily jumped into the waiting arms of a certain girl.

Red whipped around. He had wondered where Green had gone. He wanted to apologize for his outburst that one day at brunch.

"…Green…"

"…Red…"

* * *

**A/N**

**Already February... crazy.**

**The Super Bowl yesterday delayed this chapter a day, but it was worth it.**

**In regards to the story, I'm well aware that Red's typical starter would be a Charmander.**

**That being the case, I wanted to make the one that he gets in this tale have a specialness to it since Pikachu took the starter bond away.**

**Making it shiny was what I settled on.**

**Have a wonderful week everyone!**


	9. Preparation with Information

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Preparation with Information**

Bill looked at the two trainers that were facing off in his cottage, one of which was holding a Clefairy, and the other of which had a Pikachu on his shoulder. The tension in the air was absolutely suffocating. Though only about 5 seconds had passed, it felt like a lifetime. It seemed to him that these two knew each other, but what was their relationship like? When the boy called out to her, he sounded relatively excited, yet when the girl responded, she sounded like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. Bill was going to let this play out until he understood the situation better.

Red studied his friend's face. She seemed angry with him. The intimidating glare was enough to alert him to that if not for the icy tone when she spoke his name. But what should he do? In his experience, anytime she was angry meant for him to say anything was like using Explosion on a ghost type. In other words, it killed him and didn't pay off at all. Thoughts raced through his head. Could she be angry with him? Had he done anything that could possibly anger her? Nothing came to his mind, and she seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

Pikachu observed the situation with moderate confusion. When he heard Green's voice, he was looking forward to a world-famous Green hug. She was angry, he had gathered as much, but why? Pikachu spared a glance at his trainer. What did that idiot do this time? Better question. What had that idiot done that he hadn't noticed? Pikachu spent all his time with Red, so there was no way— Pikachu's ears twitched. When he had been in the cave with Blue…

Red was beginning to physically sweat. He had to say something… anything! He had never felt this uncomfortable in Green's presence before.

"…Doing well…?"

Red wanted to die. Did he actually just ask that? The only way it could've been worse is if he commented about the weather.

Pikachu wasn't angry, just disappointed. He raised his tail and slapped the back of Red's head with it.

"…Pikachu…" Red complained as he rubbed his head.

"Pi! Kachu!" The two argued back and forth in a comedic fashion.

Green was still angry, but she was finding it harder and harder to actually express it. The bickering was kind of cute in its own way.

"…I'm leaving…" Green said with a twirl. As she took her first step, a hand grabbed her arm.

"…Wait…" Red pleaded, "…I'm sorry…?"

"…Like hell…" Green responded with a huff. She knew better than to fall for that. This Bidoof didn't even know what he was apologizing for.

"…Make better…?"

"…" Green didn't react.

"Pika! Chu!" Pikachu begged as well.

"…Pikachu why…?" Green questioned. The yellow mouse had just said that he missed her. Without warning, Pikachu jumped onto Green's shoulder and began to nuzzle against her face.

"…stop…" Green said half-heartedly between giggles. Why was it so hard to be angry properly?

Red noticed that his partner just gave him an opportunity, and he was sure as hell going to take it.

*ahem* Red cleared his throat. He had put in some practice to do this, so he really hoped that it went well.

"I miss my best friend!"

That did her in. Green turned to Red and threw her arms around him with tears brimming in her eyes.

As the two childhood friends made up, Bill was getting a clear picture of what was going on. Anytime the boy said anything nice to the girl, she would blush lightly, and the boy was completely clueless. An idea popped into his mind. Bill stuck his hand into the pile of junk mail that was quickly accruing on his desk.

"Now where was it…" Bill hummed to himself, "…found it." He grabbed an unopened letter and opened it. He turned it over and shook out the contents into his other palm. "Hey," Bill said as he walked back over to the young trainers, "please accept this from me for helping me out." Extending a hand out to each trainer, Bill gave Red and Green each a ticket.

"…What…?" Green asked.

"These are tickets to the S.S. Anne. It docks in Vermillion City every so often, and they always have a party. I always get invited, but I'm busy this time, so I'd rather you two put them to good use. Consider it my thanks."

The trio conversed for a while longer before Red and Green left. When they exited, the sun was just about to leave for the day. The orange hue that was cast on the cape slowly withered into darkness.

Green turned to the right which led back down through Route 25.

"…Shall we…" Green asked as she began to walk forward. Once again, a hand grabbed her arm. Red just gestured with his eyes for her to follow him. He began to lead her towards the edge of the cape that looked out over the water. Her heart began to beat faster. She had heard from some people back in town that this cape was a famous spot for couples to go to, and Red was leading her right to the most romantic part of it. As they drew closer, Green only grew more anxious. Should she ask for time to freshen up? Would he like her perfume? She was no longer even paying attention to where she was headed as the thoughts swirled in her mind like a raging twister from a Gyarados.

Red noticed a shortcut. Going underneath the bridge was a small bit of land that connected to the cape. It let out at the beginning of the bridge in a small cliff that was too steep to climb but alright to jump from. Once Red reached the fence at the edge of the cape, he turned right and began to head down the small gap of land between the fence and a pond that resided in the cape. There was a small path between a mountain and a set of bushes that he began to lead them down.

Green snapped out of confusion when Red turned.

"…Wh—" Green began to say until she noticed the hidden path. A new set of thoughts began to race through her mind. Did Red know an even more romantic secret spot? Her mind short-circuited at the thought.

"…Green…" a voice penetrated her thoughts. "…Green…?" her eyes came to focus as she blinked, "…we're back…" Green looked around. They were now standing in front of the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City.

"…Huh…?" was all she could say.

"…Took shortcut…" Red said as he yawned and began to head into the building. Green stood still in silent shock for a while after Red disappeared. After a while, she sighed and trudged inside.

"You shouldn't have gotten your hopes up, and you know it," Green thought to herself as she unlocked her room's door, re-locked it, and flopped on the bed. Sleep struck swiftly and snores could be heard in the room not long after.

* * *

The next morning, Red roused from his slumber begrudgingly. He slapped the alarm clock on the table to silence it. He had wanted to wake up early to start training with his new fire type, but now he just wanted to curl up in a warm ball. Pikachu poked his cheek after a couple of minutes, and Red finally got out of bed. He returned to Route 24/25 to grind experience for his shiny.

The thing about pokémon, similarly to humans, is the more experience they gain, the better they do. That experience is quantified into what is called a level of experience or just level for short. A Pokédex is capable of tracking a pokémon's progress towards leveling up on a gauge or bar. When pokémon are first born, their level is 1. It is currently unknown if a maximum level exists or not since the highest level known to be achieved by a trainer's pokémon is 62, and the trainer for that pokémon claims the experience bar is still moving up slowly. The amount of experience it takes for a pokémon to level up increases exponentially. This means that it can take months or even years to achieve one level. It is very common for a trainer's pokémon to die of old age or a health problem before they can even get to 50. Thus, it would take a very skilled and dedicated trainer to raise a pokémon's level quickly enough to ever reach a maximum, if it even existed, before the pokémon passed away.

Red, up until now, hadn't bothered to worry about the level of his pokémon. Starters come at level 5 and wild pokémon tend to only attack trainers if the pokémon they possess are at a similar level to their own. All of this means that your pokémon's levels don't matter much until you are in the upper echelon of competitive battling. There is also a rule that all trainers follow that requires a level gap to not exceed 15 levels between two trainers' highest level pokémon. The reason to keep track of levels early on when they don't matter much is that most pokémon will learn new moves upon reaching certain levels and most pokémon will evolve when reaching certain levels.

Now, Red was frowning at his Pokédex. He had gotten curious as to what level his Charmander currently was, and in the process, checked the stats for his other two pokémon too. His Charmander was currently level 14. They had spent a little under half an hour grinding, and this was the result. That was perfectly fine. Pikachu was currently level 19. That was also perfectly fine. His Ivysaur… was currently level 20. That made sense. Red strived to level his team as equally as possible and a 1 level difference was part of the process. The problem was that Bulbasaur learned Razor Leaf at level 19, and he evolved when he turned level 20, but the Pokédex claimed that Bulbasaur evolves at level 16. Charmander was supposed to evolve at level 16 as well, and Red wanted his pokémon to actually evolve when it is supposed to.

Whenever Red didn't know something, the best person to ask was usually the professor, so he ran back to the center and gave the professor a call on the PC.

"What is it, Red?" Oak asked as he was trying to calm down a Raticate that was getting very hangry.

Red typed out his question in the chat.

"Your Bulbasaur evolved at level 20 and not 16?" Oak asked to clarify.

Red confirmed.

"You must have canceled the evolution. It happens whenever a trainer returns their pokémon right after the end of a battle thus not allowing the evolution enough time to occur. Actually, it can be useful to prevent evolution because some pokémon can only learn moves in an immature state. For example, Bulbasaur can learn Seed Bomb at level 37, but neither of the other members in the evolutionary line can learn the move at all."

"…Thank you…"

"No problem, Red. Oh and by the way, did I tell you that I attended a poetry slam the other—"

"Gotta go, bye!" Red typed into the chat and quickly hung up. One time, Red made the mistake of letting the professor actually tell his stories, and it never ended. Six hours were lost that day.

Now armed with new knowledge, Red went back out to grind. The goal was to get the new member caught up to Pikachu before taking on the gym. It wasn't like Red was actually anticipating using his new fire type in the gym battle especially since his other two team members were the only two types that held an advantage over water, but he would rather be safe than sorry in case something crazy happened.

Not too long after he started, his Charmander began to glow bright enough that only its form was distinguishable. The shape of the pokémon began to morph and the light shrouding the pokémon shimmered. After a few seconds, the glow dissipated and a little larger looking Charmander with a horn-like protrusion on its head was revealed, adequately named Charmeleon. The color of its skin was still yellow.

It seemed to Red that shiny pokémon retained their shininess through evolution. Jotting down this information and sharing it with the professor would earn Red major brownie points, so he took a sharpie that he always kept in his backpack and wrote it on his arm. Brownie points with the professor were irreplaceable. Blue, being the guy's grandson, got access to all the benefits such as a loan for a bike. Red was definitely aiming to get a bike from that old man even if it meant giving the skin on his left arm a makeover for the time being.

It took another couple of hours for Charmeleon to catch up to Pikachu and Red happened to get lucky and catch an Abra in a great ball during the process. Since there was no longer anything to do, Red stretched and began to head out of the tall grass he was grinding in. Just as he was about to get out, an Abra got in his way.

Red ignored it and walked past it, since he had already caught one, only to have it teleport back in front of him. Red walked past it again and blinked in annoyance when the Abra just reappeared in front of him once more.

"…That's it…" Red fished out a regular pokéball and chucked it at the floating humanoid. Red took the opportunity to go into a full sprint past it. His hope was that the Abra wouldn't be able to locate him when it broke out. Once he got a fair distance away, Red looked over his shoulder to check if the Abra had re-spotted him.

"…No way…" there on the ground was the pokéball with no Abra to be seen. Red had caught the thing. Red jogged back to the pokéball laying on the ground and scooped it up. He usually wouldn't keep two of the same pokémon, but these things were such a pain to catch that he'd rather keep it and never need it than release it and end up needing it for something.

With the boring part over, Red made a pit stop to fully heal up his party and stood in front of the gym doors. Maybe in a different timeline, where Red had chosen Charmander as his starter and never got a Bulbasaur, he would be nervous right now. In this timeline though, Red nonchalantly opened the doors and stepped inside. Red had a Pikachu with Misty's name on it.

* * *

**A/N**

**I usually aim to have around 3000-word chapters.**

**I feel like that is the perfect size to let a chapter have substance while also not taking up too much time to read.**

**This chapter I cut a bit short because I didn't really want to end a chapter in the middle of a gym.**

**Anyways, have a great week everyone.**


	10. Shock and Awe

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Shock and Awe**

Familiar music hit Red's ears as he crossed the threshold into the gym. He had hoped that each gym would have its own composition, but it seemed he had expected too much. The area itself was a simple pool with a raised walkway extended out into the center of it. It was a perplexing design that didn't make much sense.

"Why put a walkway in the middle of the pool?" Red wondered, "Wouldn't that just make the pool less usable?"

He didn't dwell on it for too long and instead took a glimpse of what lay at the end of the bizarre walkway. Standing atop a block with the number "one" printed on it was a girl with strawberry blonde hair. She was wearing what seemed to be a typical female's athletic outfit; a sports bra and shorts. Perhaps it was a swimsuit? Red supposed it didn't really matter. He sure as hell wasn't going to swim.

The two statues that were in Brock's gym stood tall and proud here too. Despite not really wanting to know, Red walked over to the one on the right and checked the plaque.

Blue

Of course, his name was there. Before Red could fret over it, a voice directly to his right caused him to jump a little.

"Yo, champ in the makin'!"

Having turned to face the man that appeared out of thin air in his fright, Red narrowed his eyes. This was the exact same guy that was at Brock's gym. The guy that he had ignored.

Red quirked a brow.

"You rocked your first gym battle back in Pewter! Excuse the pun," the man continued, "Hold on. I already know what you're going to ask. Why am I here? Well you see, I'm what they call a league cheerleader."

Red pulled his cap down in an attempt to hide the growing smirk on his face.

"I know, I know. I wish they'd change the title, but it's 'tradition' or whatever. Anyways, the league hires us to give tips and encourage trainers that are taking the gym challenge. Each gym is supposed to have a cheerleader, but we're kinda short-staffed, so I'm doing all eight gyms."

Red was hoping this wasn't going to take much longer. He was getting bored.

"It's not all bad though. I get eight times the pay, and they're having me test out this new service that's in the works. I think they called it Poké Ride, but I digress," he turned to the pool and gestured.

Red saw him look away and immediately set off towards the pool. He'd have to remember to avoid him in the future.

The walkway was rather straightforward. It started in the center directly in front of the entrance and proceeded straight towards the center. After a good few yards, the walkway veered right then straight then left back to the center where the girl awaited on the block. On the way up towards the right-hand turn, there was an alternate path to the left that made a square back to the same path a little further ahead.

Considering that the left path was useless and would take longer, Red went straight. At about the mid-point between the left path's two connecting intersections, a voice halted Red in his tracks. Pikachu turned Red's head to the right which revealed someone swimming in the water next to the path.

"I'll take care of you with my water types!" a man with goggles and a swimming cap shouted up at him.

Realization struck Red as he let Pikachu jump onto the small pathway between him and the water. That alternate path was there so he could avoid this trainer. Not that he would've done that. Experience was experience.

The swimmer had a Horsea and a Shellder, both of which were pure water types with awful special defense, and each went down with one hit. Red didn't stick around to hear what the trainer had to say after that sweep, instead, proceeding down the walkway. There were no more surprise swimmers and the only thing in his way from challenging the leader was a picnicker off to the leader's left. As soon as he stepped in front of the block, the picnicker walked towards him and claimed that Misty wouldn't have to bother with him.

This girl had only one pokémon at her disposal; a Goldeen. It also went down in one hit.

"Maybe I'm a bit over-leveled…" Red thought sheepishly. He didn't think that his Pikachu would sweep the floor and charge for it too. Wasn't his Pikachu only level 19?

* * *

Misty lifted her head when the door opened. Another challenger…

She gazed lethargically at the young boy as that cheerleader dude talked to him. Just yesterday, she got her ass handed to her by an attractive-looking young man… not that she liked him or anything. In fact, she had been moping about since that defeat. The guy, Blue, wouldn't even give her his number. The mere thought caused her to grind her teeth together. The moment Blue revealed his starter to be the water type, Misty knew he was a man of culture.

"Whatever. I'll take my frustrations out on this guy," she muttered.

"But Miss Misty…" the girl to her right spoke up.

"What is it, Diana?"

"That boy… he's got a Pikachu."

"How do you know…" Misty looked across the room and spotted the yellow mouse riding the guy's shoulder, "…that," she finished in shock. How did she not notice that when he walked in. The Pikachu stuck out like a Rhyhorn in a Tauros herd.

Misty cleared her throat and straightened her posture, "Well, of course, I noticed that. Obviously, that Pikachu is weak. It couldn't bring down a Route 1 Pidgey."

"Yes, of course," Diana agreed without hesitation. Her boss's ego was as big as a Snorlax's appetite. It was best to not argue. The last person who tried to tell she was wrong got…

Diana shuddered in recollection.

"Are you alright, Diana?"

"H-huh?"

"Never mind," Misty eyed her underling a little longer before spacing out. There was a cute new swimsuit that had caught her eye when she went shopping over the weekend. It was quite expensive, but it could be worth it. Especially if Blue…

Diana slowly glanced at her boss as the girl began to giggle dreamily.

"I wish she'd stop fantasizing when we have a challenger…" Diana muttered under her breath. She sighed and focused her attention back to the path only to startle. The boy they had just been talking about was coming to a stop right in front of Misty.

"Hold it right there!" Diana quickly walked forward, "Misty won't have to bother with you after I'm done."

Oh, how wrong she'd been. The battle was over the moment it started. She'd have to leave it to Misty. Her boss could plan accordingly now that they'd seen his Pikachu in action. She watched as the boy turned to her boss and…

… to Diana's horror, Misty was drooling slightly and still giggling like a little schoolgirl. Diana blushed in extreme embarrassment. Why had she taken this job again? Oh, right. The scholarship…

She walked hurriedly to the side of the block and tapped on Misty's exposed midriff. The touch reawakened the redhead who blinked rapidly and refocused on her surroundings. Diana watched as Misty's eyes dilated and as red rose up her face.

"A-a-a-a-ano…" Misty stuttered. She bit her tongue; the pain clearing her mind a little. "S-s-sumimasen," Misty slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Get it together!" She screamed at herself mentally. She had slipped into full-on Japanese. The region had adopted English a few years ago as its official language to help with tourism, so the Japanese she grew up with was basically useless now. She had no idea if this kid knew Japanese, but regardless, it was unprofessional. Just like the blush that took over her face. She tried to will her blood downwards as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Um, hiya! My name is M-Misty!" she cleared her throat and imagined a nice relaxing water type pokémon. A Slowpoke moving at a turtle's pace graced her mind, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I'm the Cerulean gym leader. I specialize in all-out offensive with water types. How many badges do you have?" alright, she was back in business.

"…One…"

"How boring," she turned around and signaled the referee to open the arena before glancing back at Red, "Follow me."

To Red's horror, Misty dove off the side into the water and began to swim towards the back of the gym where the newly opened arena was waiting. Once she reached the edge of the pool, she hoisted herself over the ledge and was handed a towel. She draped it over herself then looked back.

"The hell are you doing over there? Jump in and swim over already,"

Red was panicking. He didn't know how to swim. What if he couldn't participate because of it?

Pikachu waved his hand in front of Red's face causing the latter to turn his attention towards the former. The electric type motioned towards the way they came and then continued to motion towards the side of the room.

Red followed his partner's pointing and sighed in relief. The pool had dry land all around it that he could use to get to the other side. He made his way around the pool at a walking pace, running was forbidden indoors after all, and came to a stop on the challenger side of the battlefield.

The actual field was a massive pool, much to Red's annoyance, with decently sized circles of land floating on the surface in a seemingly random assortment. Red couldn't judge how deep the pool was, but he figured it'd be deep enough to allow even the biggest of water types to fit comfortably. Contrary to what most new trainers believed, fully aquatic pokémon—such as Goldeen or Magikarp—didn't require bodies of water to fight properly. At least, not after they were captured.

The technology behind a pokéball was something that almost no one cared or talked about. It wasn't part of the curriculum. All that mattered was that they worked. Red would've been perfectly fine with upholding that mantra, but he learned under Oak. The old man was well versed in all things pokémon. Naturally, this included pokéballs. It was a common occurrence for Oak to go into a lengthy rant about how easy trainers these days had it with modern technology. The pokéball being one of such modern technologies. Supposedly, Oak was entering his twenties when the modern pokéball was first invented. Before then, Johto native apricorns were hollowed out and fitted with a basic capture device. Apricorns made for the perfect material because they were plentiful, easy to grow, and had tough exteriors such that even the strongest of pokémon couldn't eat them. This toughness meant they were hard to break and not easy to escape from. Since Johto had the only suitable climate to grow apricorns, it quickly became expensive for other regions to import them. In an effort to make pokéballs a cheap and easy to produce commodity, researchers at Celadon University were tasked with making a material to rival the toughness of an apricorn that was just as easy to acquire. As it turned out, the silk produced from the move String Shot combined with concrete made for the perfect replacement. The silk was for its high tensile strength to prevent fracturing while the concrete was for the rigidness to maintain the shape of the ball. As microtechnology advanced, new features kept getting added to the pokéball until it reached its current iteration.

One of those new features enabled fully aquatic pokémon to "swim" at about 4 feet in the air. In addition, it enabled the gills of such pokémon to work with the water vapor found in the atmosphere.

Honestly, Red zoned out pretty often when Oak started talking about big brain science. If it didn't help him become a better trainer then what was the point?

This all meant that it was not necessary for the field to be a pool. Whatever pokémon Misty could throw at him could do just fine without it. It must've been a stylistic choice or personal preference.

The referee went through his spiel after Red scanned his trainer card in the same manner as his last gym battle.

"The gym battle between Red from Pallet Town and Misty the gym leader is about to begin. This will be a one badge battle following standard gym battle rules. Now, if both parties are ready..."

The referee glanced at both the leader and the challenger, getting a nod from both of them.

"Begin!"

The audience was a bit more filled out than it was in Red's previous gym experience. Part of the reason, Red imagined, was due to the time of day and the city they were in being more populated. Some twenty to thirty random people littered the stands. All gym battles had a 100 pokédollar ($1) entrance fee to spectate a match. That money was used for gym-related expenditures.

The moment the referee officially began their battle, music started to blast from the speakers. Red recognized the energetic theme as the same one from his battle with Brock. The music certainly did a good job of elevating the hype in the crowd, he mused as the audience began cheering.

Misty grabbed the pokéball containing her customary first choice in a one badge battle such as this. It was time for some much-needed stress relief. With a casual flick of the wrist, she released her first pokémon.

A brown star-shaped creature appeared in the water. The center of the creature seemed to consist of a red jewel.

Red didn't think too much about it before sending out his first pick.

"Ivysaur!" the quadruped roared. His grass type was standing on the closest platform to him.

Misty narrowed her eyes. A grass type, how cliché. Every time someone brought that starter line here, they always barraged her with Vine Whip. She knew how to take the wind out of those sails.

"Staryu, use Harden!" the familiar blue glow indicated an increase in defense.

"…Leech Seed…"

"Dodge it!"

As Ivysaur jumped into the air and shot three seeds towards his opponent, Staryu simply dipped beneath the surface. The seeds flew over it, harmlessly, and disappeared.

Misty had expected Red to do something else, but the boy remained inanimate.

"Tackle!" she commanded.

A few moments of silence followed her command. Red was about to make a move when the opposing pokémon popped out of the water right behind his own pokémon and slammed into it.

His Ivysaur lost his footing easily and dell straight into the water.

Misty grinned. The newbs were never prepared for it. It was the reason she kept the field as a pool. It allowed for mobility unparalleled otherwise.

"Follow up with a Water Pulse!"

Her pokémon's jewel began to glow and a burst of ring-shaped water traveled towards the sunken grass type. Right before it was about to hit, Ivysaur disappeared in a flash of light.

His partner jumped in just after Ivysaur disappeared.

"…Quick Attack…"

"Dodge."

Staryu submerged itself once again, and Pikachu struck nothing but air.

"…Thunder Shock…" his partner landed on a platform and began to charge the electricity needed, "…at the water…" Red added last second.

In a second, the entire pool was glowing a bright yellow.

This was why red was so displeased when he discovered that the field was a pool. Water conducted electricity which meant he could do dumb stuff like this.

"Staryu!" Misty screamed as realization struck her. Electric types were far and few between in Kanto and especially rare to find with a trainer with so few badges. In a few seconds, Pikachu's reign of terror came to an end and her pokémon floated to the surface, knocked out.

The crowd clapped and murmurs could be heard if one listened carefully enough.

"Who is that boy?"

"I've never seen anything like that."

"Why hasn't someone else done this before?"

"I hear that some hot-shot trainer used tactics just like that back in the day."

"Really? Who was that?"

Red tuned out the crowd. He waited patiently for Misty to send out her next pokémon.

The girl in question silently returned her precious water type and picked up her final member. She clenched the pokéball tightly and grit her teeth together. This kid was about to beat her using her own field. She clicked her tongue and sent out Starmie.

Starmie was the evolved form of Staryu. It looked relatively the same, but it was blue and had two layered star shapes to it. Its jewel was also a bit more complex in design.

Without uttering a word, Red grasped another pokéball and tossed it in front of him. Pikachu, hearing the sound of a pokéball, retreated to his partner's side. A sparkle caught the eye of everyone in the gym as Red's shiny pokémon thrashed its tail about proudly.

"Just what is he doing…" Misty wondered quietly out loud. Besides the captivating sight of a discolored Charmeleon, it was a fire type, as in, weak against water. If that thing so much as let its tail become submerged in the water, it would lose its very life.

"Are you an idiot!" Misty screamed. She had no respect for someone willing to risk his pokémon's life like that. Despite all the wonders that the pokéball bestowed upon the pokémon it contained, engineers had yet to figure out how to protect the Charmander line from losing the flame on their tails. A massive prize was being offered to anyone who could solve the problem.

Red didn't respond, but she saw the way the corners of his mouth twitched up a little.

"I'm giving you one chance to swap that Charmeleon out. It could die if it stays out!" Misty crossed her arms over her chest in an authoritative gesture.

"…Ember…" Red ignored her, "…continuous…"

Misty raised an eyebrow. The nerve of this kid was driving her up a wall. What did he even expect to do with that attack?

She waited patiently as her Starmie hid in the water, safely out of harm's way. The flames hit the surface of the water, dissipating quickly upon impact, but Red didn't give the cease-fire command.

After a few minutes of this, Misty lost her patience and ordered an attack.

"Swift."

Her Starmie exploded from the water and a barrage of stars were sent flying towards the fire type.

"…Dodge…"

Without pausing his attack, Charmeleon hopped to a different platform. Starmie fell back down into the pool… or it fell back down onto the ground.

The crowd went dead silent at the sight. The only sound coming from the speakers still playing the gym battle theme on loop.

The referee wasn't sure what to make of what he was seeing.

The pool was now empty.

"…Stop…"

The Ember attack came to an end.

Misty didn't know what to do. Her body refused to respond to the frantic signals her brain was sending it. There was no way this was allowed. Her challenger had just evaporated the entire pool. It happened so fast that she wasn't even sure it was real.

"…Safe now…" Red said with a hint of amusement in his voice. He didn't want to destroy this pokémon with the same trick as before, but he also didn't want to deal with a pokémon he couldn't hit half of the time. Thus, he decided to eliminate the problem entirely. No pool, no problem.

"Y-y-you can't just do…" Misty pointed at the pool and gestured frantically, "_that!_ There must be a rule against this. Destruction of property or something! Ref, help me out here!"

The referee hastily pulled out his official league rulebook and flipped through it like his life depended on it, which it kind of did when Misty was your employer.

"I'm sorry, Miss! I can't find anything strictly forbidding destruction of the field. The challenger has not violated any rules."

"UGGHH!" Misty clutched her head in frustration. This was not what she had thought was going to happen going into this battle at all. "Whatever! Starmie, Water Pulse!"

The mysterious star-shaped pokémon was semi-aquatic, so the lack of water wasn't the end of the world. A fully aquatic pokémon would've been screwed because the feature that allowed for "swimming" in the air only activated if the pokémon was sent out on land. If the pokémon was sent out into the water, like Starmie had been, the feature was disabled to allow for uninhibited mobility in the water.

The attack, which was aimed for Charmeleon, caught one of his arms as he dodged. A minor hit from a super effective attack was nothing to scoff at, but Red knew his Charmeleon barely felt it.

"…Smokescreen…"

Charmeleon reeled its head back and blew out a cloud of smoke. It filled the air and moved towards Starmie.

"Rapid Spin"

As the name of the move would imply, Starmie began to _rapidly spin_ creating a wind current that dissipated the smoke around it.

"…Mega Kick…" Misty flinched. That move was incredibly powerful. If it hit her pokémon…

Charmeleon's foot began to glow with power and the flame pokémon leaped towards Starmie… only to fly right over it and hit the wall of the empty pool.

"Thank Arceus," Misty sighed. It could only be used five times, so if it missed all five times, it wouldn't be a big deal. "Water Pulse, again."

As Starmie began its attack, Red called out,

"…Dragon Rage…"

The two pokémon launched their attacks in unison. The attacks collided creating a mist.

"…Mega Kick…"

"Dodge it!" Misty screamed in panic. She would not let that move hit her pokémon.

Starmie launched itself to the right and straight into the foot of a certain fire type. The flame pokémon was originally going to miss once again, but Starmie had dodged right into his attack. The result was the star-shaped pokémon being launched into the wall leaving a dent as it slowly fell down.

"Recover, Starmie! Recover!" Misty shouted anxiously. If she hadn't told it to dodge…

Her pokémon stood up with some effort and chanted its name. Its body began to glow right before it suddenly collapsed, now unconscious, onto the ground.

"Misty is out of usable pokémon. The winner is Red from Pallet Town." The referee shouted into the mic which was quickly drowned out by the roar of the audience. The music followed suit and changed to sound more victorious.

Misty hopped down into the empty pool and ran over to her Starmie, completely confused as to why it had fainted. Once she reached it, she gingerly picked it up and examined its battered body.

"No wonder…" she sighed and returned her pokémon. It was suffering from a burn. The blue exterior of her pokémon had been charred and hot to the touch. She inferred that it must've been the heat from the water in the pool when Charmeleon had been evaporating all of it.

Misty took a moment to reign in her emotions and approach the challenger. To her surprise, red had already jumped down and was waiting patiently for her to finish with her Starmie.

"Here," she quickly fished out a Cascade badge and handed it to him, "this badge allows you to use Cut outside of battle, and pokémon you receive in trades will obey you without question up till level 30."

Red slotted the badge into his case with a nod.

"Take this too. It's TM97 which contains Water Pulse. It has a good chance of confusing the target."

Red simply took the machine and threw it in his backpack then turned and left.

As he returned to the Pokémon Center, Red couldn't help but feel lucky. After he got done training earlier, he stopped into the McChamp fast food place. It was a simple burger joint that used Machamps to cook all the food.

Inside, while he was waiting for his order, he ran into these two martial artists that claimed they could teach moves with "mega power." Deciding he had nothing to lose, Red inquired further. One of them could teach Mega Punch, and the other could teach Mega Kick. It seemed the punch was weaker but easier to land while the kick was stronger but harder to land. Red figured that he might as well go all out with a power move anyways and went for the kick.

The two martial artists brought him to Route 4 and taught his Charmeleon the move. Afterward, they both scaled the cliff that blocked a normal person to the rest of the route much to Red's astonishment.

All in all, Red felt lucky that he ran into those two on their lunch break. Mega Kick made the fight a whole lot more fun, _and_ it made him look way more badass.

* * *

After climbing out of the pool, Misty flopped onto the ground and pulled out her Pokégear. It was a relatively new technology that was only being afforded to people with high status such as gym leaders. The concept of it was that it could be used like a PC from anywhere. It could check your mail, call people, and even load map data. She and her fellow gym leaders were given one to test it out and make sure it worked before they released it to the public. Plus, it was going to be rather expensive, so it would take a person with a higher profession to afford one anyway.

She went through her contacts list and called someone she figured would appreciate the heads up.

"You're not going to believe this…" she began as she stared up into the ceiling.

* * *

**A/N**

**A bit of a longer chapter this time.**

**It's crazy how easy it is to lose track of specific things like what level every pokemon is to what moves they currently know.**

**To remedy this, I started making an info doc, and it caused me to not have enough time to finish this for last weekend. Oops.**

**The weekend before that, a manga series I had been following came to an end. The ending left me a bit salty, so I decided to not write that weekend and keep my saltiness out of this fic... I swear that I had Misty's character planned out before that.**

**It's also March now. I started this fic at the end of November of last year which means it's been about three months. That's kinda crazy to me, but it has been fun so far.**

**Take care until next time.**


	11. Pay Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Pay Day**

Red had a problem.

He didn't know where to go.

After claiming the Cascade badge, he took the rest of the day off and got up early to continue his adventure. Naturally, there were four directions he could go; each of the four cardinal directions.

He had already come from the west to enter the city, and the steep ledges prevented him from returning that way even if he wanted to.

Nugget Bridge and Bill's Sea Cottage were off to the north which he had already thoroughly explored, so that was a dead end.

There seemed to be no exit from the city to the east due to fences that covered literally the entire east side.

The only discernable exit was located in the south. Yet another barrier ran across the city's southern border. This time, it was a hedge wall that ran from the fence on the west all the way to the fence on the east. A decent chunk of the center of the hedge was replaced with a fence. That fenced portion had two small gaps in it that someone could theoretically pass through. But…

"Who would even put a sign here?" Red thought incredulously.

The western gap was filled in with a sign. He couldn't even read it from this side. As for the eastern gap, a small tree had started to grow there which was too thick and tall to get around.

That left Red where he was now; laying on the grass next to the southern fence and wondering what he could do to get out of here.

He knew that those small trees could be cut down with a hidden move, and he just got a badge that gave him the right to use that exact hidden move, yet he didn't have the hidden machine (HM) to teach it to his pokémon.

He rolled over to face his partner. The only one that was always there when he needed him most.

Red sat up and looked around him. His little yellow buddy had disappeared. Just a little bit ago, he knew that Pikachu had been sprawled out next to him, so where did he go?

"Pikachu!"

Red jerked his head in the direction of the happy cry. There wasn't anything in particular over there except for the Pokémart and a couple of houses on either side of it.

Oh.

Out in front of the house next to the Pokémart that was closest to the eastern fence was a young lass with a Slowbro loafing around next to her. That, by itself, wasn't anything special. The thing that made her special was that she was holding his Pikachu and stroking him affectionately.

"You're so adorable!" the lass squealed and hugged him tightly, "My Slowbro isn't cute or obedient, but you are just the best. I just might have to catch you."

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu squeaked happily and pushed his head against her willing hand. The girl just giggled and resumed petting the electric type.

"I can't believe my own partner chose a girl over me…" Red thought with a pout as he stood up, "She's not even a cool and powerful trainer. She's just a normal girl!"

Red could've understood if it was Lorelei of the Elite Four, or any of the Elite Four to be honest, but this random girl, who couldn't even get her Slowbro to use Withdraw, had somehow stolen his starter and partner.

"…Pikachu..." Red said sternly. The sound of his voice caused his starter to visibly stiffen and slowly turn his head to look at him. Pikachu had the eyes of a child that got caught with their hand in the poffin jar.

Red slowly approached the lass. She had been blissfully unaware of her surroundings, but the sound of Red's footsteps caught her attention.

"Oh? You're approaching me?" she questioned as she eyed the boy.

Not replying, Red stopped a few feet away from her and pulled out Pikachu's pokéball.

Pikachu's eyes bugged out at the sight of his pokéball. He was not willing to push his luck with such a threat opposing him. The electric mouse attempted to jump down and return to his trainer.

But he couldn't move.

The girl had her arms wrapped around his midsection and was holding him tightly.

"Pika! Chu! Pika!" Pikachu cried out desperately. He squirmed and thrashed against her hold in a panic.

The lass was fully focused on Red, and she idly wondered why the boy had pulled out a pokéball and was seemingly pointing towards her. Perhaps it was a new trendy way to hit on girls? A glint appeared in her eyes as she realized that the boy was using the pokéball as a way to symbolically 'capture' her heart. She had never been courted before, and it was exciting.

"Oh my god! He's so forward!" she squealed and subconsciously hugged the object in her arms against her even harder.

Pikachu grunted as he was almost popped like a balloon. He couldn't even get the air to voice a complaint. Adrenaline surged through his body, and he used Thunder Shock in panic.

The lass writhed as the electricity coursed through her. Her arms lost their strength causing Pikachu to stop his attack as he plummeted to the ground. She blinked once after the shocking event and sunk down as her legs stopped supporting her weight.

Red suppressed a laugh. He had seen his Pikachu desperately try to escape his fate, and it was a good dose of karma for him to end up like this. He knew the lass would be fine. Pokémon attacks, though effective against other pokémon, were relatively harmless against humans. Only really powerful attacks, a really powerful pokémon, or both could cause serious injury. Thunder Shock was not a powerful attack, nor was Pikachu a powerful pokémon, so it would only take a few minutes for the effects to wear off on her.

"…Sorry…" he apologized and slipped the nugget he won from the bridge into her bag. After that, Red turned to his Pikachu and picked him up. The rodent was dazed, so Red continued to hold him as he returned to the Pokémon Center.

* * *

"Again?"

"Yeah. I'm sick of it, honestly."

"How many times does that make this month?"

"Ten… or eleven. I kinda lost count a while ago."

"How has no one gotten anywhere with them? How hard is it to track someone down?"

"Well," scratching his cheek sheepishly, "Every time we arrive on the scene, the culprit or culprits are gone. Our Growlithe unit can never pick up a scent, and the direction the victims point us towards never works."

Sighing deeply, "I know all of that already. Stay here. The number one rule of criminal investigation is that the culprit always returns to the scene of the crime."

"Sir!" a salute followed his exclamation before he then inquired, "Where are you going, Chief?"

"The—" the chief paused, thinking better about admitting his true intentions, "police station. I have to write up a report on this after all."

With that, the man took his leave.

"Don't come to me when your sorry ass gets blasted!" the underling called after his boss. He knew exactly where his boss was going. Whenever things got stressful, the bar became a second home for the chief.

* * *

Red had explored nearly the entire city. There was absolutely nothing helpful except for a rare candy he found on the ground in some guy's back yard. There was one more house that he wanted to check, but a policeman was guarding the entrance.

Just as Red was about to give up and go back to the Pokémon Center, some guy stumbled towards the house that was being guarded. He watched in interest as the guard caught the stumbling man.

This was his chance.

Red pushed himself against the front of the house and began to creep towards the door. The sun was hanging low in the sky, so the area was dimly lit. The streetlamps had yet to turn on. As he got closer, the conversation became clear to him.

"Thas not how u gard," the stumbling man slurred, "kids theees days 'er sooooo… youslesssss."

"Come on, chief. Let's get you home. Your wife is probably worried."

"Huhhhhh? I don 'ave a wife. I 'ave a demon tha owns ma souuul."

As the two older men left the premises, Red softly opened the door and entered the house. The interior was a disaster zone. The table in the middle of the room had one of its legs broken and laying on the ground causing the entire table to be tilted. The chairs were undamaged but pushed back in a disorderly manner. Inhuman footprints created a trail that started at the entrance and circled around the room to the right before exiting out a human-sized hole freshly destroyed in the back of the house. A potted plant was knocked onto the ground, books were thrown about on the floor, and cupboards and cabinets were opened and ransacked.

Red ignored the inhabitants and climbed out the hole in the back. He really just wanted to see if this would get him on the other side of the stupid fence. Upon emerging from the house, Red nearly ran straight into a man dressed in all black.

"Hey!" the man grumbled, "Stay out! It's not your yard!"

Red deadpanned.

"…Huh? Me? I'm an innocent bystander! Don't you believe me?"

Red grabbed a pokéball and casually tossed it in front of him. The get-up of this guy was a dead giveaway. Especially the large red 'R' printed right across his shirt.

Ivysaur made quick work of the grunt's Machop and Charmeleon mopped the floor with the following Drowzee. The defeated Rocket grunt ground his teeth together in frustration before throwing something at Red.

"…Okay. I'll return the TM I stole. I better get moving! Bye!"

Red clumsily caught the object that was hurled at him, and in the moments where he was focused on the object, the grunt had disappeared. Inspecting the object, Red confirmed that it was, indeed, a TM. TM28 to be exact.

Pikachu waved a paw in front of Red's face and pointed towards the robbed house. Red turned towards it and took one step. He then froze, hesitating. TM28 contained Dig. Dig was a really useful move. It could get you out of caves in a pinch, it was decently powerful in battle, and it was a ground type. ground and fighting are widely considered to be the most offensive types and people have argued since the dawn of time which one is better. Personally, Red believed ground to be better with fewer types that resisted it. Not to mention, pairing ground with ice would attack 9 types super effectively and the rest neutrally. Grab one physical and special move of each type, and you have a monster sweeper… assuming the pokémon has the stats to back it up. Both attacking stats and speed needing to be above average at least…

Red pocketed the TM. It wasn't like the original owner ever expected to get it back anyway, right? With that bit of self-assurance, Red turned around and followed the path southbound. As he had hoped, he was on the other side of the fence and could now move freely down through Route 5 and towards Saffron City.

Route 5 was designed in such a way that it had three lanes with fences separating each of them. The entire route was a slope with Cerulean City being at the top and Saffron City being at the bottom. The left and right lanes were actual smooth planes. The middle lane on the other hand…

The middle lane was like a set of giant-sized stairs. Five 'steps' equally spaced vertically apart made up this lane. The first step from the bottom seemed to contain a building of some sort, the next three steps up had tall grass patches, and the last step had nothing special. If he wanted to go down this way, he'd have to commit and hit the bottom before being able to come back up since the fence extended all the way until the three lanes converged to the gate for Saffron City and the ledges were too tall for him to go backward.

Of course, Red had to do it eventually. The tall grass could contain new pokémon and he couldn't just pass it up. Besides, the house might be interesting. Therefore, he might as well do it now.

Red hopped over the first ledge and quickly did the same for the second. He was now in the first patch of grass. He figured it would be more efficient to get as close to the bottom as he could before he began hunting for pokémon in case he needed to leave in an emergency. Then he wouldn't have to go through more tall grass on the way down.

Before he could jump down the next ledge, a Pidgey popped up in front of him. Red just pointed at it and let Pikachu shock it. The bird fainted instantly allowing him to continue. He ran through the next patch of grass without any trouble and landed in the final patch. Now where he wanted to be, Red searched around and found some more Oddish and Bellsprout in addition to the abundance of Pidgey.

After a little bit of searching, he came across a cat-like pokémon. It had cream-colored fur with a light brown tinge on its hind legs and the curled end of its tail. The most intriguing part was the koban on its forehead. To Red's surprise, the pokémon took off the koban and chucked it at his Pikachu. Pokédollar coins of varying amounts clattered against the ground. Red's eyes widened.

"This pokémon makes money out of thin air!" Red screamed in his mind. It was too good to be true. In fact, it required further testing. Red had Pikachu simply dodge the wild pokémon's attacks until it used that glorious move again, and while he waited, he picked up the coins.

Finally, the cat chucked the koban again.

"No… no, no!" Red spoke out loud in a rare occurrence of eloquence.

There was no money on the ground. The koban simply boomeranged back to the wild pokémon and that was the end of it.

Hanging his head in defeat, he caught the new pokémon which he then found out was a Meowth. The Pokédex explained that Meowth liked to scrounge around for small shiny objects, and that's when Red realized that it just stored loose change it found behind its koban. The first throw knocked out all of the loose change the first time, so there was nothing there the second time.

In total, he picked up about 100 pokédollars which was a terribly low amount and incredibly disappointing. On the bright side, he could get something off the dollar menu at McChamp.

He then hopped down the ledge to the house.

The door creaked slightly as he entered. As was typical, it was a single room house with a table and various décor items. A lone man greeted him in a tone that would remind anyone of their grandfather.

"Hello, young man," Red was quickly ushered in and sat at the table, "Can I get you some tea? Maybe some scones? Or I—"

Red held up a hand to silence him and gestured around the room, asking if this place was more than just someone's house. It seemed grander and there was an enclosed area in the corner that he had never seen before.

"What? Could you please speak up sonny?"

Red bit his lip, "…What this…?" he asked as he pointed to the enclosed corner.

"Ah, that is the pokémon play area. I watch pokémon for people at a time-based price. They usually gain experience and even level up from time to time. I can only watch one pokémon at a time though. The play area is only big enough for one pokémon as you can see."

Red nodded in understanding. Personally, he preferred to do the grinding himself. He quickly excused himself and bowed to express his gratitude for the older man's patronage.

With that, he hopped down the final ledge and entered the gate to Saffron City.

* * *

"One more time, please."

"…Hello—"

"No. You can't hesitate at the beginning. Just force yourself to speak immediately."

"Heeh…"

"Good! Try it again!"

"Heh-Hello…"

"Yes! Exactly! Good job!"

"…Thanks…"

"And now we're back to square one," Blue sighed as he dropped his head into his palm.

"…Sorry…"

"No, it's alright. You've been doing great. I know it's hard to use your voice when you don't use it often. It's like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets."

"..Yeah…"

"Hey, that was faster! After that, we'll move on to full sentences."

"..Okay!"

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello, everyone! I took an unexpected month break for March.**

**I'm transitioning from my internship back to school, so I'm not entirely sure how my schedule is going to work out yet.**

**I know for sure that Sunday is no longer a good option for me. ****Regardless, I'll let you all know what the plan is once I get it figured out.**

**Have a good one until the next chapter.**


End file.
